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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

August 28, 2023

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.

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