anything + egg + cheese makes it a breakfast food, right?

i've recently found myself spending large numbers of hours with a human who has a very, how shall we say, nightmare of a schedule when it comes to meal times. it includes very long shifts and overnight shifts...bloody shifts... it oft leaves me in the dark when planning meals. is it breakfast if he wakes up at 6pm to start his work day? would he like a beer with that 7am bagel? i normally require breakfast food to break the eating seal, even if i wake up in the afternoon. but i'm not so sure this human is the same, he seems to just eat whatever i put in front of him. so yesterday and today i prepared meatballs, one was a dinner way, one was a breakfast way. they were both my dinner. they were both his breakfast. they were inspired by a recent little trip to the meatball shop.

left: the lazy girl's guide to chopping canned tomatoes.

turkey meatballs + red sauce

{for the meatballs}

1 tbs olive oil

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey

a heaping 1/2 cup of ricotta

1 large egg

a heaping 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

{for the sauce}

3 tbs olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 tsp oregano

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tbs tomato paste

1 28-oz can of whole plum tomatoes + their liquid

1/2 tsp white sugar

a few pinches of cinnamon

{for breakfast}

angel hair pasta

a healthy plop of ricotta

a sunny side up egg

salt + pepper + olive oil to taste

{for dinner}

focaccia or slider rolls

a salad

booze

{meatball clues}

preheat oven to 450, coat a pan with the olive oil, set the pan aside. combine the rest of the ingredients. make 1 1/2 inch balls and line them up snuggly on the pan. bake for 20 minutes. make the sauce while they're baking.

{sauce clues}

in a large pot over medium high heat, cook the olive oil + onion + oregano + garlic + salt + black pepper + crushed red pepper until the onion becomes soft, about 10 minutes.

add the tomato paste and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

add the tomatoes + sugar + cinnamon and stir until the sauce boils. reduce to a simmer and cover, stirring occasionally. once the meatballs are done roasting, add them to the sauce and keep them over the heat until you're ready to serve them.

{etc}

ad lib toppings or ways to eat them. slider-izing them with focaccia is yummy. or, stir some ricotta and olive oil into a bowl of hot angel hair, top with the balls and an egg, and you've got a really filling excuse for a 6pm breakfast.