Meatballs are served with spaghetti in the US. Well, the first time I served my hubby that dish he stared at me incredulously and asked me why I would ever mix meatballs with spaghetti? In our household meatballs are served with rice or as pasta al forno!
Ingredients (serves 6)
FOR THE MEATBALLS
- 250 gr minced pork
- 250 gr minced beef
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 tablespoons semolina or breadcrumbs
- black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 700 gr tomato passata
- 1 pinch of sugar
- salt
- pepper
- 100 ml milk
Directions
For the meatballs:
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl and using your hands, mix to combine before shaping into small balls.
- Place the meatballs on baking sheet or plate and store in the fridge.
For the tomato sauce:
- Chop onion, garlic and oregano.
- Heat the butter and oil in a deep, wide pan, and cook onion-garlic mix over low to medium heat for about 10 minutes. Don’t let it go dark, just let it become soft.
- Add the tomato passata and then half-fill the empty bottle with cold water (approx. 300-350ml). Add this to the pan with the pinch of sugar and some salt and pepper, and cook for about 10 minutes. The tomato sauce will appear thin at this stage, but don’t worry as it will thicken a little later.
- Stir in the milk, and then drop the meatballs in one by one. Don’t stir the pan until the meatballs have turned from pink to brown as you don’t want them to break.
- Cook everything for about 20 minutes, with the lid only partially covering it. Check the seasoning, et voilà!
