An Italian classic, meatballs in tomato sauce is one of the most popular dishes in the western world with many different variations in both the meatballs themselves, as well as accompaniments. Meatballs can come with the classic combination of pasta and tomato sauce, with gravy and mashed potatoes, with a delicious cheese sauce; or on a sandwich, which has become increasingly popular being a favourite of fast food establishments. All the pictures you can see on this page are from my own kitchen following this recipe and my recipes for sauces which can be found by clicking on the links, so hopefully you can see the delicious results you can achieve by following this easy recipe.
Spicy Meatball!
The meatballs themselves can be altered from the traditional recipe to incorporate all manner of herbs, to alter and enhance the flavours; spices, or even chillies can be added to create that “spicy meatball!” This recipe will give one of the more traditional takes on the meatball, using both beef and pork with some subtle flavours, to create what can only be described as a fantastic meal, that is suitable for any occasion, dinner for one, the entire family, even impressive enough to wow any date you may deem lucky enough to cook for.
This recipe will concentrate on the meatballs themselves, which with a little time taken on preparation are extremely easy to make, links will be given throughout to other recipes by the same author for sauces and accompaniments that go great with this recipe.
For enough meatballs to feed four, you will need
Equipment
- Chopping board, sharp knife for prep
- 2 to 3 small bowls for prepared ingredients
- Wisk
- Food processor
- Flat dish for flouring
- Large sauté/frying pan
- Oven tray (optional)
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 shallots or 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- Good handful fresh breadcrumbs (you can blitz a few rounds of bread in the processor for this)
- 1 to 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 500 gs lean minced steak
- 500 gs lean minced pork
- Handful fresh basil
- Small handful fresh parsley (optional)
- A few small pinches ground cumin
- Salt and pepper
- Flour for dusting
- Parmesan to serve if desired
Method
- Once you have all your ingredients prepared and ready, then here comes the fun part
- What you should have in front of you is all the ingredients separately arranged, you then want to take about a third or a fourth of each ingredient, (depending on the size of the food processors bowl) and place it in the food processor with a good seasoning of salt and pepper.
- Process the ingredients to a smooth consistency
- Transfer the processed ingredients to a separate dish/bowl and repeat the process until all the ingredients are blended
- Give the ingredients a good mix to spread all of the ingredients evenly in the mix
- Cover the flat dish with flour, you don’t need too much
- Now take a small amount of the mixture, depending on how large you would like your meatball
- Roll the mixture around in the palms of your hands until it takes the shape of a ball
- Then roll the ball in the flour and repeat the process
- You should be left with a perfectly round dusted meatball
- Place on, or in a suitable container/dish
- Once you have made your desired amount of meatballs (you can save some of the mixture for another day) place some olive oil in the pan to warm
- Now, you can complete the cooking process solely in the pan, perhaps adding sauce to the pan once cooked though; or if you wish you can brown them in the pan then finish them in the oven, if so you should now pre-heat the oven to around 220 degrees
- Once the oil is hot transfer the meatballs into the pan and proceed to cook using the spatula to manipulate them, browning them consistently all over
- Continue cooking for around ten minutes on a medium, or if you wish transfer them to the oven tray and place in the pre-heated oven to cook through
- Voila your meat balls are ready
As mentioned above these fantastic meatballs go great with pasta with a traditional tomato sauce, or homemade gravy and mashed potatoes and are especially great with a delicious cheese sauce, all the recipes for which can be found by clicking on the links, enjoy.
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