My Favourite Really Rich Saucy Italian Meatballs

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• Moderately Easy

• Serves: 5
• Ready in: 2 hours (1 hour Prep - 1 hour Cook)

Ingredients

• 500g lean beef/steak mince
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 a packet of cheese thin crackers, the big version of mini cheddars basically (or 2 small bags of mini cheddars if you don't have those)
• 4 or 5 tablespoons of dried basil
• 5 or 6 tablespoons of dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon of driedparsley
• 2 tablespoons of ground cayenne pepper
• 5 or 6 tablespoons of ground paprika
• 1/2 a tablespoon of crushed chilli flakes (optional!)
• 1 large egg
• 1 carton of passata
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• a squeeze of tomato puree
• a little flour for coating the meatballs before frying
• salt and pepper
• oil for frying (preferrably not olive, as I have a cheap pan and it sticks horribly, but if you have a good non-stick one, feel free to use it!)
• The additional bit:
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery

Preparation method

1.   Put your mince, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of oregano, 2 tablespoons of basil, all the parsley, 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 3 tablespoons of paprika and a little tomato puree together first in a mixing bowl mix it all together as much as you can, to make sure everything is blended. Either do it the traditional way by hand, or make your life a bit easier and use a food mixer.
2.   Crush your cheese thins (or mini cheddars) until they are crumbs and add these to your meat and spice mixture. Followed by the egg. Carry on mixing until the texture is a LITTLE sticky, but not too much, otherwise you won't be able to roll them.
3.   Once mixed and ready, coat very lightly in a little flour and fry in a frying pan on a medium-high heat until just the outside is browned, don't worry about the inside being cooked for now, they'll be in a pot for almost 2 hours and they don't take too long to cook. Once fried, dab a little to get any excess oil off and set aside, covering with foil to keep warm until the sauce is ready (which is about 5 minutes).
4.   Now for the sauce, finely chop your onion and fry in a separate pan (I use a big one, because the meatlballs go in soon), when the onion is a little softer, add the chopped tomatoes and passata and the remaining spices and mix it all together.
5.   Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for as long as possible on a low hob setting with the lid on, stir occasionally to prevent sticking. If you have the time, cook for 2 hours, if not, cook for one. Simple as, it tastes great both ways and you will love them I'm sure. Serve with pasta and garlic bread; I usually put 5 or 6 meatballs to a person, and you have LOADS of sauce to mop up, so it's a good excuse to eat lots of garlic bread.
6.   The additional bit: If you fancy sneaking a few vegetables in for kids this is a great opportunity, because you can't see the vegetables, but it changes the flavour ever so slightly, it's yummy! If you fancy adding the extra bit, grate the carrots and celery and fry with the onions when making the sauce. Easy as pie! Enjoy! I know I always do.

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