Spaghetti and Meatballs
This recipe uses bread pieces soaked in milk and onion to give you an extra soft, juicy meatball texture. Paired with a classic tomato sauce and lashings of parmesan cheese, this is sure to please the whole family.
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1kg beef and pork mince
- 1.5 cup diced bread (equivalent of about 1 round bread roll) - no crust
- ½ a grated onion
- 1 tsp ground fennel seed
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed and finely chopped)
- Salt + pepper
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 2 free range eggs
- 1ts Oregano
- a pinch of chilli flakes
Sauce:
1 jar good quality Passata
1 tin chopped Italian tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic (crushed and finely chopped)
Olive oil
Basil leaves
A tiny pinch of ground nutmeg (To taste. Be conservative as nutmeg is very strong.)
Method
Sauce:
- Fry garlic and a handful of chopped basil leaves in olive oil until fragrant, then add passata and chopped tomatoes. Add a very conservative pinch of nutmeg and stir through (you can always add more if needed but use a light hand as nutmeg is strong). Simmer until the flavours are nicely infused into the sauce. Note: if you start the sauce before the meatballs, it will have lots of time to gently simmer before the meatballs are done, and then you can add them straight in.
Meatballs:
- Remove crust and cut bread into small pieces.
- Soak bread in milk and grated onion for 5 - 10 mins.
- Mix all meatball ingredients together and roll into balls. Chill 30 mins - 1 hour in fridge.
- Fry on stove in olive oil or in air fryer for 8 mins on 200C.
Combine with the sauce and serve over spaghetti, topped with a generous sprinkle of parmesan and fresh basil leaves.
