Meatballs and Spaghetti is one of those Italian comfort food which would probably tempt each one of us. A heaping plate of spaghetti topped with hearty tomato sauce and flavoursome meatballs evokes the feeling of a perfect comfort food. And specifically, pasta still remains one of my easy weeknight dinner option, something which I can bank on any day. The life gets easier if I have a big bottle of pre-made passata in my fridge.
I have seen my taste buds moving from a strong liking of white cream sauce based pasta to a lighter tangier tomato sauce one. Rather, if I put it this way, it is white sauce which I prefer during cold winter days. While on hot summer day, it is light summery tomato sauce with loads of fresh basil torn straight from balcony plant. Freshly grated Parmesan and freshly torn basil leaves just do the magic trick and make you a wonderful yet easy weeknight treat.
This time, I made these lamb meatballs which I adapted from Donna Hay’s magazine, who herself is well known for her fast fresh and simple recipes. This one is a no brainer too, yet it is easy to fall in love with those light and summery flavours. Originally, the recipe called for beef and pork, which I have substituted with an equal amount of lamb mince meat as per my liking. If you want you can cook the meatballs to the half stage (searing in the pan) and store them in air tight container in freezer for using them later.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500 gm lamb meat, minced
- 60 gm fresh white bread crumb
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp mixed dried herbs(oregano/sage/thyme)
- Crushed black pepper and salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 500 gm fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/2 cup lamb stock
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- Crushed black pepper and salt
- Handful of fresh basil leaves
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- Freshly grated Parmesan to serve
- 250 gm spaghetti
- Mix all the ingredients except olive oil very well in a large bowl.
- Wet your hands and roll the meatballs taking 1 tbsp of mixture at a time.
- Heat a large frying pan. Add oil and cook the meatballs on medium heat for 4-5 minutes, turning meatballs frequently.
- Take out the meatballs from pan and let cool.
- Heat the oil in the same pan you cooked the meatballs. Add garlic and onions and cook them until soft, around 2-3 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and balsamic vinegar and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the fresh chopped tomatoes, stock, herbs, salt and pepper and let cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for another 20 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through.
- Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan with boiling water and loads of salt. Drain off the spaghetti once cooked.
- To serve, place the spaghetti in serving plates, top with generous amount of meatballs and sauce, followed by Parmesan and fresh basil leaves.