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Italian meatballs with tomato sauce

Name: Italian meatballs with tomato sauce
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 190ml (¾ cup) olive oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 100g pine nuts, roughly chopped; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 45ml (3 tbsp) fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 15ml (1 tbsp) fresh basil or rosemary, roughly chopped; 10ml (2 tsp) fennel seeds, ground 250g ricotta; 90ml (1/3 cup) fresh breadcrumbs; 45ml (3 tbsp) Parmesan, freshly grated; zest of 1 large lemon; 1 large egg; 500g minced pork or beef; salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste; Sauce; 2 x 410g tins Italian chopped tomatoes; 100ml wine; 20ml (4 tsp) fresh basil, chopped; salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

July 13, 2010 (Last Updated: January 11, 2019)

Italian meatballs with tomato sauce recipe

If you’ve never had spaghetti and Italian meatballs with tomato sauce, you’ve missed out on a suppertime classic. And with this recipe, you’ll never go for store-bought meatballs again!

Print Recipe

Italian meatballs with tomato sauce

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

190ml (¾ cup) olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
100g pine nuts, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
45ml (3 tbsp) fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
15ml (1 tbsp) fresh basil or rosemary, roughly chopped
10ml (2 tsp) fennel seeds, ground 250g ricotta
90ml (1/3 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
45ml (3 tbsp) Parmesan, freshly grated
zest of 1 large lemon
1 large egg
500g minced pork or beef
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sauce
2 x 410g tins Italian chopped tomatoes
100ml wine
20ml (4 tsp) fresh basil, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Heat half the oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion and pine nuts until the onion is soft and the pine nuts are light brown. Add the garlic, cook for a few more minutes and set aside.

Place the herbs, fennel, ricotta, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, zest and egg in a bowl and add the mince. Add the onion mixture and season. Mix well to combine.

To make the meatballs, roll about 50g of the mince mixture at a time into small balls. Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan and fry the meatballs until golden.

To make the sauce, simmer the tomatoes, wine and basil on medium heat in a saucepan until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season, add the meatballs and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Remove the meatball sauce from the heat and leave it to stand for 10 minutes before serving with hot pasta of your choice.