Serves 6
Time to cook: 40 minutes, oven time 90 minutes
Nutrition per serving:
- Calories: 425kcal
- Carbs: 14.8g
- Protein: 28.8g
- Fat: 26.2g
- Fibre: 2.7g
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 250g British beef mince
- 250g outdoor reared pork mince
- 100g pancetta, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 60ml buttermilk
- 50g fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- Small handful fresh flatleaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten
- 45g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
For the Tomato Sauce
- Olive oil for frying
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 700ml passata
- 75ml dry red wine
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 125g mozzarella ball, sliced
Method
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. Season and mix.
- Form golf-ball-size meatballs by rolling the mixture in your hands, then transfer to a large baking tray. Repeat with the remaining mixture, cover and leave in the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Put the frying pan/casserole over a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. If all the meatballs don’t fit in the pan, fry half the meatballs until browned on all sides (8-10 minutes), then transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
- Heat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/gas 2. For the tomato sauce, drain excess oil from the pan and put on a low heat. Add the garlic and slowly simmer for a minute.
- Pour in the passata and red wine and stir in. Add the oregano, chilli flakes and salt and pepper. Bring to a steady simmer and allow to cook for 5-6 minutes before returning the meatballs to the pan, turning to coat them in the sauce. Cover the pan with a lid and transfer to the oven.
- Cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking time, turn up the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7, dot the meatballs with the mozzarella and a little extra parmesan, then return to the oven.
- Serve the baked meatballs with spaghetti cooked in a pan of boiling water until tender, and sprinkle generously with grated parmesan.
Article last medically reviewed : Jun 20, 2022
