Mamma's Meatballs

Added on Tue May 1 2007

Views 2371

" Pasta and Meatballs - cooking this makes me feel like a real italian mamma (think sofia loren!) it's packed with flavor without being to overpowering and everyone in my family loves it. "

This recipe belongs to 'Mydish Group'

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The Basics

Dish: Main Course
cuisine: Italian
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 0hrs 25 mins
Cooking Time: 0hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

700g bottle of passata
1 teaspoon salt
100mls full fat milk
pinch of sugar
500g minced beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons fresh parmesan
3 garlic clove minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
a good grind pepper

Method

Firstly put the mince meat, egg, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, 1 of the garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon of the oragano in a large bowl and with your hands dig in and mix it all up, adding a good grind of pepper and 1 teaspoon of the salt.
Then shape into smallish balls ( this can take a while but is really fun to do, my kids enjoy helping)
Place the meat balls on a plate and set aside while you make the sauce.
Put the onion, remaining garlic and oregano into a processor or hand blender and blitz to a pulp. Heat the butter and oil in a deep pan, then scrape the onion garlic mix into it and cook over a low heat, making sure it does'nt catch, for ten minutes.
Add passata and then half fill the empty bottle with cold water. Add this to the pan with a pinch of sugar and some salt and pepper, and cook for about ten miutes.
The tomato sauce may look thin at this stage but don't panic it will thicken up later. Stir in milk, and then drop in the meatballs one at a time. Dont stir the pan until meatballs have changed from pink to brown as you will break them up.
Cook everything for about twenty minutes, with a lid partially covering it. At the end of cooking time, check seasoning, adding more salt or a grind of pepper to taste.
Serve with spagetti or tagliatelle.