Thai curried meatball pasta bake

Enjoy this out of this world sweet and sour Thai/Indian inspired meatball bake that is like nothing you've ever tasted! I used a 3 quart slow cooker  to cook the curried meatballs  and sauce, but you can cook the meatballs in a cast iron frying pan and the sauce on the stove if you are without access to a slow cooker... The slow cooker was used by me and it produced incredibly amazing infused flavours- so if you can, try it my way and prepare to be delighted!

List of Ingredients:

For the MEATBALLS
8 oz or 250 g of ground organic pork (if you don't eat pork use 500 g of ground beef)
8 oz or 250 g of ground organic beef
1/2 cup fresh bread crumb using organic seed bread (I made the crumbs by putting bread in blender)
2 tsp of garam  masala spice
1- tsp of chopped coriander, including stems
1 chili, red or green, de-deeded and finely chopped (use a glove)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp of grated, fresh organic lemon zest
a dash of salt

1 tbsp of olive oil (if frying meatballs in cast iron pan only*)

For the THAI CURRY TOMATO SAUCE
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp of coriander, including stems, finely chopped
2 tbsp of FRESHLY grated ginger root
2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp of fresh lime juice, or more
1 can (796ml) of organic diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of organic tomato paste
2 tbsp of  real, quebec maple syrup
2 tbsp, low salt soy sauce
1/2 a cup of dried, organic, no sulphates cranberries

500 g of good quality or organic rigatoni pasta
 1 cup and a half aged/old cheddar or Gruyere, grated

TO GARNISH: dried cranberries and fresh coriander

Step 1: Combine all meatball ingredients, except oil, using your hands. Form into small 1-inch balls. You should have about 25-30 in total. Set aside and then move onto to step 2- the sauce.

Step 2: Combine in a deep, plastic mixing bowl all THAI CURRY SAUCE INGREDIENTS. ( if using stove top method, cook onion first, then add in the rest of the ingredients, heat accordingly to allow flavours to combine)
If doing my SLOW COOKER version, then turn on slow cooker now.

Step 3: Gently place the meatballs in slow cooker. Start with about 20 meatballs and then add the THAI CURRIED SAUCE  to fill the slow cooker, leaving at least one inch of space from top of lid.  It depends how big your slow cooker is. All the meatballs and sauce may all fit if you have a bigger one then I did. Cook on HIGH for 1-2 hours, checking after one hour and moving sauce around with a spoon once, or 3-4 hours if on low. You will know when it is done as the meatballs are opaque when cooked through.

Step 3: 15 minutes before you  are ready to eat, cook the rigatoni pasta in a pot of salted boiling water. It should take 8-10 minutes. Drain pasta.

Step 4: Preheat oven to 425 degrees C. Spray a 9 x 13 glass ovenproof dish (a lasagna dish works great) with a non-stick oil. Add pasta to dish first, forming an even layer. Next, pour in slow cooked curried meatballs and sauce (move it around to combine all ingredients thoroughly using a wooden spoon and top with cheddar cheese. You can add the  extra cranberries if you like, before the cheese. I did not add any extra in my original recipe.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bubbling.

Serve spoonfuls of this baked pasta dish in a wide bowl and add fresh sprigs of coriander!

Prepare to enjoy this flavourful, exotic dish!