Nadia's spaghetti and meatballs
Next time your little ones (or big ones) have friends over, treat them to these utterly delicious super-juicy, stupidly tasty meatballs and be the talk of the playground!
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
For the meatballs:
1 thick slice of bread, crust removedA good glug of milk300g pork mince250g beef minceSmall handful of fresh parsleyZest of 2 lemons1 fat garlic clove1⁄2 onionSalt and pepperPlain flour, for coatingOlive oil and butter for fryingSpaghetti or pasta shapes with a tomato sauceParmesan cheese to grate on topSalad, to serve
For the tomato sauce:
2 tbsps olive oil 1 clove garlic minced1 tbsp tomato pureeSplash of water
Method:
Put the bread on a plate, cover it with milk and allow it to bathe for 10 minutes. Now mush it up with a fork. Put this in a bowl with the other meatball ingredients in, season well and give everything a good mix.
Heat up a frying pan, fry a teaspoon of the meat mixture and taste, adding more seasoning if necessary.
Sprinkle some flour on a large plate, wet your hands (this will stop the meat from sticking to you) and gently roll walnut sized balls of the mixture in the flour. Being gentle stops the meat compacting and the balls getting tough.
Heat a glug of vegetable oil gently in a large frying pan. Fry the meatballs until they are browned and transfer to a preheated oven at 180c for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown all over and cooked through. Don’t overcook if you want them to be juicy!
To make the tomato sauce for the spaghetti heat the oil and fry the garlic until softened then stir in the tomato purée and cook. Let it simmer for a minute then add a ladleful of pasta cooking water to the purée . Season with salt and pepper then add the spaghetti to the pan and stir together.
Serve the meatballs on top of spaghetti and tomato sauce, grate some parmesan cheese over and serve with a side salad.