• 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!

    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

    1

    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.

    2

    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.

    3

    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.

    4

    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.

    5

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

    Did you make this recipe? Tag us on Instagram @foodandhomesa!

    ALSO SEE: Homemade tomato sauce for every occasion

    Homemade tomato sauce for every occasion

     

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