I used to be afraid of pasta: Pasta equals carbs. Carbs equals calories. And calories make you fat. Yet somehow I could justify two pieces of cake. And cake CLEARLY does not contain carbs (not).
It wasn't until recently when dining with a flat of young gentlemen, who served up the most amazing pasta dishes, did this fear dissipate.
I guess I always associated pasta with spag bol or pasta bakes. Back home, you know Mum is in a cooking rut or is short on time when either of those two come out. So I guess I never really enjoyed them. Plus they usually contained convenience pasta sauce so the craft was never really there.
Upon flicking through a couple of cookbooks (Nigella and Jamie come to mind) I found recipes that incorporated sausage meat into their meatballs.
Now a quick lesson on moulded meat products. The health nuts will hate it but unfortunately you need fat in order to ensure your patties/balls/loaves of mince stick together. Ever wondered why your homemade patties are a wee bit on the crumbly side? Yeah, probably because your mince was too lean.
I tend to just deal with the crumble and have a leaner patty but I feel in the case of meatballs, where you want them to be perfect and dainty, a calorific sacrifice needs to be made. You'll notice the difference right away once you start rolling them out into balls.
Fat not only enhances the mouth-feel of meatballs, it boosts the flavour. Fat is the ultimate flavour carrier for most flavour compounds. Most flavour compounds (for example the ones found in rosemary that we are about to add) are fat-soluble. This means that in order to be well homogenized in the food they need to be sitting in a bit of fat.
Again note that curries made with full-fat cream usually have a better and more well-rounded flavour than those that skimp on the fat.
So my number one tip for meatballs here is to squeeze in the meat of a couple of halfway decent sausages. The ones I purchased were 73% lamb meat. This is good enough. Five fat ones came in a packet for just over $4. I used three and froze the other two for the next time I make these.
Look for a flavour that complements the herbs you will be using, such as rosemary. You don't want a curry-flavoured sausage for example. Hey, I know it might seem obvious but the thought does escape some people. If in doubt, go for a plain unflavoured sausage.
The tomato sauce is simply a reduction of three cans of tomatoes, garlic, onion, oregano, chilli flakes and a splash of red wine and balsamic vinegar. So provided you have these lying around, you will never need to buy ready-made pasta sauce again.
Spaghetti and meatballs
Serves four
One packet of spaghetti
For the meatballs
400-500g lean beef mince
3 plump sausages (I used lamb and rosemary) with the filling squeezed out
4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
small handful of rosemary leaves, ground finely
small handful parsley, chopped finely
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 large egg
salt and pepper
For the tomato sauce
3 400g cans chopped tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup red wine
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp dried oregano
3 dried bay leaves
1/2 tsp (or more depending on taste) dried chilli flakes
salt and pepper to taste
fresh Italian basil and parmesan cheese to serve
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use your hands to mix and squeeze all of the meatball ingredients together. Once combined, cover and leave to refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Sauté the onion and garlic for the sauce in a bit of oil in a medium-sized deep frying pan. Once translucent, add the oregano and chilli flakes and continue to heat for another minute. Add the tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Leave to simmer in the background while you make the meatballs. You'll add the red wine a few minutes before you serve.
Heat a second frying pan up to a medium heat and splash some oil into it.
Take half to full teaspoon amounts of the mince mixture and roll it into small balls. Fry the balls in about four batches, placing them on a separate plate while the other batches cook. The smaller the meatball the faster the cooking time. I found myself sprinkling additional chilli flakes and oregano while frying to add more flavour.
Once the meatballs have been cooked, place them in the tomato sauce and stir so all the meatballs are covered. Continue to simmer while you cook your pasta. Now add the wine to the sauce. Season the sauce to taste.
Once the pasta is al dente, drain, serve and garnish with torn fresh basil leaves and a good grating of parmesan. Enjoy!
