But look at them. I mean, how could you not adore something so succulent and juicy?
Meatballs
1 minced onion
1/2 of a carrot, grated
1 stick of celery, cut into tiny pieces
1 teaspoon of dry oregano, or 2 teaspoons of fresh oregano chopped very finely
The zest of 1/2 a lemon, cut into very tiny pieces
1-3 teaspoons of djion or sweet German mustard (depending on how much you dig mustard)
Pepper, tabasco sauce and salt to taste
1 egg
1 slice of good quality bread
500g beef mince
2 tablespoons of frying oil
Sauce
1 minced onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
425g can of crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons of rich tomato paste
1/2 cup of minced parsley
Wine, sugar and salt to taste
Parsley and parmesan to garnish
500g spaghetti
A large pot full of boiling water
Olive oil
Salt
Method
1. Cut up your, onion, carrot, celery, oregano, lemon zest, mustard, pepper, salt, tabasco sauce and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Break your bread into pieces and grind it up (I have an electric coffee grinder thingy that I use to make breadcrumbs). Stir these ingredients together until they are well combined. Place the beef mince into the bowl, and press the ingredients together until they are evenly dispersed. With clean hands, form into small balls about 3cm across. Put formed raw meatballs on a plate. If you have the chance, cover them with plastic wrap and let the meatballs set in the fridge for a while.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Boil a couple of kettles full of water in preparation for boiling the pasta and keep on a high heat on the stove. Fry the meatballs, rotating carefully in batches being careful that they get cooked right through to the middle. Put them aside in a bowl when they are cooked through.
3. When the last batch of meatballs is cooked through, add the minced onion to the pan juices, and stir about. Add a little water if the pan is getting sticky. Stir for about 3 minutes.
4. When the onions have taken on a clear, shiny quality, add the garlic and toss the garlic in the hot oil briefly.
5. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Rinse out the tin with a little water and swish it about to get the last bits of tomato out of the tin. Add the water to the pan. Heat it until it begins bubbling away.
6. When the tomatoes have begun bubbling. add a little salt and olive oil to the water you prepared for the pasta before. Add the spaghetti to the water and stir with a fork until the whole length of the spaghetti is submerged. Put the timer on for 10 minutes or so.
7. Taste the pasta sauce. Add a little wine, salt and sugar to bring the flavours out. Add some of your parsley to the sauce. Use your judgement as to how much of each element it needs. Take the heat down on the tomato sauce and re-introduce all the meatballs to the hot sauce. Stir gently to cover the meatballs in the sauce.
8. Drain the pasta. Put it in the serving bowls, and ladle the pasta sauce and meatballs over the top. Garnish with parsley, parmesan, fresh cracked black pepper and a bit of sea salt.
Serves 4.
*Note: If you like more vegetables in the sauce, feel free to add as many as you like. I've done it with capsicum and pitted kalamata olives and that's pretty fine eating there.
*If you don't have a grinder to wizz your breadcrumbs up, you can just use commercial breadcrumbs from the store.
