The BEST Meatballs with Rich Tomato Sauce
This Easy Meatballs Recipe is perfect for a quick supper. This Italian classic recipe is a family friendly dinner that everyone will enjoy. It's also great for batch cooking and freezes really well.
Servings: 4 People
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 250 g Minced beef About 10% fat
- 250 g Pork mince Lean
- 2 Cloves of garlic Peeled and crushed
- 10 g Flat leaf parsley Chopped
- 50 g Breadcrumbs
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
For the Tomato Sauce:
- 1 Onion Peeled and chopped
- 150 g Carrots Peeled and chopped into small chunks
- 4 Cloves of garlic Peeled and crushed
- 1 tbsp Dried oregano
- Salt and pepper
- 800 g Tinned tomatoes 2 Tins
- 3 tbsp Tomato puree
- 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 20 g Fresh basil or parsley Chopped
To Serve:
- 300 g Spaghetti (As a guide its 75g per person)
- 50 g Parmesan
Instructions
To make the meatballs:
- Combine the meatball ingredients (apart from the oil) and squish very well with clean hands. Shape into 12 balls.
- Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan and gently fry the meatballs in batches until browned all over. Remove from the pan and move to one side.
To make the sauce:
- Add to your pan (it should still have some fat in the bottom from the meatballs, if not add a splash more oil) the onion, carrot, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Fry for about 10 minutes until starting to soften.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, and balsamic vinegar. Fill one of the empty cans with water and add this in too. Stir well and then add your meatballs back in. Pop a lid on and bubble away over a low heat for 25 minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking away, cook your spaghetti.
- Stir through the fresh herbs and serve topped with grated Parmesan.
Notes
Vegetables:
Chop the veggies as small as you can as it hides them in the sauce. You could add celery, extra carrots or mushrooms too if you fancy. Tomatoes:
Use as good a quality tinned tomatoes, passata and puree as you can for this recipe. It's an easy shortcut to extra flavour. Leftovers:
It really does freeze well, so make a double batch and, once cooled, package up in freezer dishes and save for another day. You may just need to add a splash of extra liquid when it’s defrosted if the sauce is a little thick.
Chop the veggies as small as you can as it hides them in the sauce. You could add celery, extra carrots or mushrooms too if you fancy. Tomatoes:
Use as good a quality tinned tomatoes, passata and puree as you can for this recipe. It's an easy shortcut to extra flavour. Leftovers:
It really does freeze well, so make a double batch and, once cooled, package up in freezer dishes and save for another day. You may just need to add a splash of extra liquid when it’s defrosted if the sauce is a little thick.
Nutrition
Calories: 811kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 687mg | Potassium: 1454mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 7150IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 332mg | Iron: 8mg