Spaghetti with spinach balls

This was the recipe from my cousin. I think she learned from food channel. I changed lot of things to suit our taste and finally settled with this recipe. A perfect vegetarian option. Ricotta cheese and spinach was awesome combination. I have tried spinach avocado pasta, may be spinach and pasta works great too.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti - 1/2 lb or half of the packet
• Pasta sauce - 1 cup
• Oil - 1 tbsp

For spinach balls:

• Chopped spinach - 1 cup, frozen
• Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
• Ricotta cheese - 1/4 cup
• Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
• Oil - 1 tsp + 2 tbsp 
• Salt and pepper - to taste

Method:

Boil the spaghetti as per box instruction. Heat a pan with a tsp of oil, add garlic and paprika flakes. Add the spinach. Let it cook in a medium flame till all water are absorbed. If the spinach is cooked and you have more water, remove the water and use it later.

Switch off the flame. After it cools completely, add the ricotta cheese, bread crumbs and salt. Mix well. 

Make balls from the mixture. Heat a small pan with 2 tbsp of oil and shallow fry the balls, turning around to make golden and crispier. Remove and place them aside. Heat the wide pan with a tbsp of oil, add paprika flakes. 

Add pasta sauce and boil for 2 minutes. Add the spinach balls and spaghetti. Stir gently.

Serve immediately.

Notes:

• If you want to use fresh spinach, wash and drain the water completely and proceed in the same way.
• Ricotta cheese can be replaced by panner.
• If your spinach mixture is too dry to form a ball, add a tbsp of cheese. If it's too moist, try adding more bread crumbs.
• If you are not comfortable in handling spinach balls with sauce, stir spaghetti and sauce first. While serving you can add the spinach ball.