Meatballs with Spaghetti
Serves 6
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour 30 minutes
Nutritional Breakdown
GIZZI “The idea for this dish is that it is bulked out with the apple, onion and peppers and served with sweet potato mash rather than spaghetti making it much lower calorie!”
Meatballs with Spaghetti – 423 kcals and 11.1g fat per serving
Ingredients
- 400g lean minced beef (10% fat)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 eating apple, peeled and finely chopped (or grated)
- 1 red pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped
- the leaves from a few sprigs of oregano or 1 teaspoon of dried
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, for frying
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 4 x 200g of cherry tomatoes on the vines, halved
- 4 x 225g packs cherry tomatoes on the vine, halved
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- a pinch sugar
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- handful of fresh basil leaves
- 385g spaghetti
Method
Mix the minced beef onion, apple, red pepper, oregano, salt and pepper by squishing it all together with your hands. Divide into 16 smallish balls. Chill in the fridge while you make the sauce.
To make the sauce heat the oil in a pan, then add the onions then cook slowly for 8-10 minutes or until the onions have softened and started to go golden. Tip in the tomatoes, add a teaspoon of red wine vinegar and sugar and simmer very gently, uncovered, for about 20 mins.
Heat the oil in an ovenproof non-stick frying pan, wipe out with kitchen paper, then add the meatballs and fry gently and slowly over a low heat for 10 mins, turning them over once with tongs or two spoons. (You may need to do this in batches if your pan is not very big.) Drain off any excess fat, pour in the sauce and finish off cooking for 15 mins. Blitz the sauce in a blender
Bring a big saucepan of salted water to the boil, then boil the pasta for 10 minutes or until al dente.
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