This is a fun, hands-on recipe for the whole family! Scale up or down according to how many mouths you have to feed – this serves around 4.
Ingredients:
- 400 grams minced beef or pork or half-and-half
- 4 slices stale white bread or breadcrumbs
- splash of milk
- 1 courgette
- mustard
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- parmesan or pecorino cheese (or even just cheddar will do!)
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tins of tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- optional: splash of red wine, dried chilli flakes, herbs like oregano or basil
- something to serve your meatballs with: spaghetti, rice or your pasta of choice
Instructions:
For the tomato sauce:
- finely dice 1 onion and sweat in a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan big enough to hold all the sauce
- finely dice 2 cloves of garlic and add them to the pan with the onion – sweat for a couple more minutes until everything starts to turn a bit translucent
- add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes – rinse out the tins with a bit of water or wine so you get every last bit of tomato in the pan
- add a large pinch of salt, sugar and pepper (optional at this point: chilli flakes, oregano or basil)
- bring up to a simmer, and let it bubble slowly away while you make the meatballs….
For the meatballs:
- in a large bowl, tear up a slice or two of white stale bread, or use breadcrumbs
- add just enough milk to make the bread go mushy – give it a squidge about with your fingers to break it up
- add minced beef/pork – I used about 300g (think Kate used 500g)
- grate half a large courgette (or a whole baby one) and add to the bowl
- grate around 3 tablespoons of cheese (parmesan, pecorino, cheddar, etc) and add to the bowl
- add a tablespoon of mustard and a good pinch of salt and pepper
- add a raw egg and mix everything together with your hands
- roll the mixture into golfball-sized blobs and put on a plate or tray – lightly dust with flour
- heat a large frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil
- fry off the meatballs, gently turning them every few minutes with tongs, until they’re browned on all sides
- spoon your tomato sauce over and around the meatballs – do it carefully so they don’t break up
- let everything simmer for about 15 mins until the meatballs are cooked through
- in the meantime, cook your spaghetti in lots of boiling water
- … and serve!
