recipes

Meatballs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti

The sauce in this recipe is delicious on its own with pasta. For a lighter version of the meatballs, try minced turkey.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1. 1 onion
2. 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3. 225g minced pork
4. 225g lean minced beef
5. 50g fresh breadcrumbs
6. 1 tsp dried oregano
7. ½ tsp cumin powder
8. ½ tsp salt
9. ½ tsp ground black pepper
10. 1 egg, beaten

For the sauce:

1. 1 onion, finely chopped
2. 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3. 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
4. 1 tbsp Roma Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5. 175ml vegetable stock
6. 500g Roma Chopped Tomatoes
7. 2 tbsp Roma Tomato Puree
8. Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
9. Roma Olive Oil for frying
10. 450g Roma Spaghetti
11. Sprigs of rosemary for garnish

Method

To make the meatballs:

1. Add the breadcrumbs, dried oregano, chopped onion, cumin, salt, and pepper to the pork and beef mixture and mix well. Add in the egg and mix thoroughly. Roll the mixture into small balls. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the meatballs. Fry for approx 5 minutes until brown, turning occasionally.

To make the sauce:

1. In a large pan put the oil, chilli and onion and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes until the onion is softened. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Finally add the stock, tomatoes, tomato puree, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning adding a little salt, pepper and sugar as required.
2. Add the meatballs to the sauce and leave to simmer for 10 minutes in order to heat through and fully cook.
3. Cook the spaghetti as per the packet’s instructions
4. Serve the sauce and meatballs with the spaghetti and garnish with rosemary.