My husband is no cook. He can open a can of beef stew and make minute rice. That's about it. I'm not exactly how he made it 33 years before he met me because he hates cooking that much.

So, it isn't often that he volunteers to cook dinner for the family. He's more of a I'll Pick Up Chinese kinda guy, which is fine. Chinese is good. Yesterday afternoon, while I was waiting for my daughter at her horseback riding lesson, when he texted me that he'd make dinner, I almost fell over. Then I needed to find something so easy, a caveman could do it.

I had him make: Summer Spaghetti. And guess what - it was so easy he didn't get mad once. It's basically one of those "dump recipes" - you dump everything into one pot and make it. But the sound of a food that's associated the word "dump" just turns my stomach. So, we'll call it the Super Easy Summer Spaghetti!

Now... this recipe is made for an Instantpot but if you don't have one simmering on the stove is fine. It's also made to be as easy or hard as you want to make it.

You need four basic ingredients:

  • 3/4-one box of spaghetti noodles
  • 1 jar of tomato-based pasta sauce
  • 1/2 bag premade meatballs (I like turkey meatballs)
  • water

But, this is where it gets fun. If you have some fresh finds at the farmer's market or need to use up leftover veggies, throw them in. If you have a couple random bags of frozen veggies, those are good too. Add in whatever diced veggies you like!

  • Cauliflower
  • Summer squash
  • Garlic
  • Zucchini
  • Mushrooms
  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Onion
  • grape or cherry tomatoes
  • carrots

We used mushrooms, onion, summer squash, and zucchini. I felt comfortable that cutting up these four wouldn't bee too big of a deal.

Directions

  1. First, break your noodles in half or thirds and put in the pot. Cover them with water. I used 3/4 of a box because I don't need a whole box for our family and I like the sauce-noodle consistency of 3/4 of a box.
  2. Using a spoon, mix up the water and noodles so that the water can saturate each noodle. If you don't do this, you'll get noodle clumps. But make sure when you are done, each noodle is covered with water.
  3. Place meatballs and veggies on top of noodles.
  4. Top with sauce.
  5. Cover and set Instantpot on high pressure to 17 minutes.
  6. Release steam and mix with spoon. It might take a few minutes for the noodles to absorb the liquid.
  7. Top with mozzarella or Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

**Pro-tip: If your family hates veggies, grate them. They'll never know they are eating them!

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