Spaghetti & Chilli Meatballs
For the meatballs:
1x 500g low fat minced beef, (frozen and allowed to thaw enough that you can cut it into chunks with a sharp knife)
1x large onion
2 sliced brown bread
1 or 2 garlic cloves (use more if you like!)
good pinch each of dried basil, oregano and thyme
chilli flakes
salt and pepper to taste
FryLight to fry
For the sauce:
1 carton passata (approx 400g)
some more herbs, salt and pepper
some red wine, especially if it has soured slightly (optional).
Spaghetti, approx 100g per person
This feeds 4 comfortably
Start by making the meatballs...
Cut the onion into 1/4s or so, and lob into your food processor. Rip the bread into roughly the same size chunks, and pop them in too. Add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper, and blitz till the bread and onion are quite well chopped. Cut the beef into roughly inch/2.5cm cubes, and add to the processor. Add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes, and blitz again. You should have a well processed texture which is easily formed into balls.
Heat your frying pan, and spray with some FryLight. Using a teaspoon, scoop small amounts of the mixture into your hands, and roll into small balls. I usually get a good 30-40 balls from this mixture. Brown the balls in batches of 15-20 at a time (about half per batch). Keep browned balls to one side until needed.
Once the final batch has been browned DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE PAN! Pour over the passata, and make sure you rinse and use the rinse water from the carton too (I use at least 1/2 a carton of water, usually a full carton if I have no wine to add). Stir in the wine (if using) and add herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Finally, place the remaining balls into the tomato mix, and bring the sauce to a good simmer. Reduce the heat slightly once the sauce is 'pocking' away, and allow to reduce for a good 15-20 mins. It'll reduce further while you cook the spaghetti as well, but it needs this initial time to really get going.
Once the spag is done, reserve a little of the water to add to the sauce (especially if you end up with over-thickened sauce like I do!)
Plate up the spaghetti, and then dish over the meatballs and sauce making sure you get at least 2 more than everyone else