Thursday 4 November 2010

Recipe of the Week - Meatballs in a Tomato Sauce




The boys in this house would have something made with mince for dinner almost every night of the week if they could! I would say this is one of their favourite ways to have mince, but then they love it equally as much just with tatties, as a bolognese, as chilli, as meatloaf, lasagna................

Because wheat-free bread is so expensive, I like to make sure I use up every last bit. When the heels are all that is left, I blitz them in the blender to make breadcrumbs and then freeze them. You can just keep adding to the bag in the freezer each time you make a wee bit more. Then just add them to whatever recipe you need them in. No need to defrost.

The picture isn't the clearest, but you get the idea. I took it in such a rush as the hungry hordes were desperate to be fed!





For the meatballs:
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1lb mince
2oz wheat-free breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tbsp tomato puree
2tsp dried mixed herbs


For the sauce:
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1-2 tbsp sugar, to taste
 handful fresh basil


~Preheat your oven to about 180C
~Put all of the meatball ingredients into a large bowl and get mixing together with your hands.
~Once everything is well mixed together, start rolling into meatballs and place on a plate.
~Heat a little oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the meatballs in batches until they are browned all over. I use a lid on the frying pan to help speed this up and stop the meatballs drying up.
~When one batch is browned, transfer them to a large ovenproof dish and put in the oven to keep warm while you get on with the next batch.
~Once all the meatballs are browned, keep them in the oven and add a little more oil to your frying pan.
~Add the second onion and garlic and soften.
~Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar and a handful of chopped fresh basil.
~Bring to the boil.
~Pour the sauce over the meatballs and cook it all in the oven for another 20-30 minutes or so, depending on how fast your oven is.
~Serve with wheat-free pasta and an extra sprinkling of fresh basil for decoration. 


3 comments:

  1. This sounds really good! I may have to give it a try. My husband is a big fan of any spaghetti type meal. Thanks for sharing the recipe! :)

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  2. Oh this looks delicious Kirsteen! I can just picture the "hungry hordes"! I would be right there with them! :D

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  3. This looks really good. You know I am almost 50 years old, and I have never made homemade meatballs... that's just not right!, I am going to have to do something about that. Now you have me inspired to give it a try. My kids love spaghetti and meatballs. It doesn't seem like too much work the way you explain it. I used to buy meatballs pre-made at at Sam's Club (a big wholesale grocery store here), and now that we have been putting a beef in the freezer for the year, I have stopped buying them... but Eddie has been asking. Your little guy is so cute in the picture. Great idea about the breadcrumbs by the way.
    Much Love,
    Pam

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