Spaghetti & meatballs

I don’t think I have ever met a man, that didn’t like spaghetti with meatballs. It’s an extremely popular dish. So, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite version, which is stuffed with lots of veggies, of course. If you’ve got a picky eater, just blend the vegetables and tomatoes together into a fine sauce and they’ll never know. As far as, which vegetables you decide to use, it’s completely up to you and what you have in your fridge.



Ingredients:

For the meatballs

•  500 g of ground beef
• 1 small onion coarsely grated
• 3 garlic clove, finely grated
• 1 carrot finely grated 
•  1 tablespoon of dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 50 g of parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• salt and pepper

For the tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped finely
• 1/2 cup of water
• pinch of sugar
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 small stalk of celery, finely diced
• salt and pepper
• chopped parsley to serve
• 400 g of spaghetti

Preparation:

In a large bowl add the ground beef . Tip all the rest of the meatball ingredients, into the bowl and then squish everything together through your hands until completely mixed. Roll the meatball mix into walnut-sized balls and place them on a plate.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the small stalk of celery, onion and ginger, cook for 7 minutes until soft. Stir in the tomato paste, water, sugar, salt and pepper, leave for 5 min then tip in the can of chopped tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped finely.



While the sauce is simmering bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a small handful of salt and pepper. Cook spaghetti until aldente.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and, working in batches, brown the meatballs on all sides then pop them into the sauce – continue to simmer the sauce for 20 minutes, stirring very gently , until meatballs are cooked through and sauce is thickened.

Serve with cooked spaghetti, extra grated parmesan cheese and a chopped parsley.

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