Spaghetti & Meatballs
Who doesn’t love meatballs? They are a complete fail safe in my house. To me, there is nothing more comforting than a big plate of spaghetti with meatballs and a big dollop of tomato sauce. Delicious! Now, don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients here as most of it is store cupboard stuff. Meatballs simply have to be homemade, you can pretty much add what you like to them, but what you do need is a binding agent, such as egg and olive oil. Don’t feel like you have to stick to this list precisely, but I would advise keeping the anchovies, they are great in meatballs!
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Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 400g lean beef mince
- 240g spaghetti
- 2 red onions finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp crushed prepared chilli
- 50g tin of anchovy fillets in extra virgin olive oil roughly chopped
- 1 egg whisked
- 2 cans chopped tomatoes
- 1 red pepper finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- I tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp parmesan
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped basil
Details
servings 2
Level of difficulty Average
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 20mins
Cost Average budget
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the olive oil, egg, garlic, rosemary, mustard, pepper, smoked paprika, chilli, anchovies and 1 chopped red onion in a bowl; mix well with your hands.
Step 2
Add the beef mince, I used a pair of kitchen scissors to snip it a little finer; this will help it to combine when you make the mixture into meatballs. Mix again with your hands until all the ingredients are combined.
Step 3
Make the mixture into golf ball sized meatballs, or bigger if you like, but you want them all to be the same size so that they cook evenly. Roll them lightly in flour, this will stop them sticking to the pan.
Step 4
Place the meatballs in a frying pan with a table spoon of olive oil and fry over a low to medium heat for about 8 minutes, turning them over half way though. Once the 8 minutes is up, remove them from the pan and set aside.
Step 5
Fry the chopped onion and pepper in the pan for 5 minutes until soft, add the chopped tomatoes, sugar and balsamic vinegar, cook for 3 minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked through. Return the meatballs to the pan with the tomatoes and continue to cook on a low heat.
Step 6
Meanwhile cook the pasta for 10 minutes, or according to the pack instructions.
Step 7
Drain the pasta and serve topped with meatballs and a big dollop of tomato sauce. Garnish with some freshly chopped basil and grated parmesan.
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