Description (Some HTML is OK)
A gentle tweak of regular beef meatballs (like Mamma used to make back in Palermo). Not my Mamma, she's from Doncaster...
Ingredients
Makes 3 servings
- For the meatballs
- 500g lamb mince
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp parsley
- Salt/pepper to taste
- Some plain flour for coating
- For the sauce
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- Handful of sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- Handful of black olives, roughly chopped
- ½ glass red wine
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 can tinned tomatoes
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
- ~100g spaghetti per person
Preparation
Take the meatball ingredients (not the flour, that's for later on) and mix well together in a bowl. Form into medium-sized meatballs; I usually get 10-12 from this amount. Roll the meatballs in plain flour to very lightly coat.
If possible, now refrigerate for 30 minutes; this is not mandatory if pushed for time..
When ready, heat 1tbsp olive oil in a (deep) frying pan until hot, then add the meatballs; they should start to sizzle immediately. Turn intermittently until all sides are browned, then remove to a warm plate. Wipe the pan clean of any excess fat and lamb bits, then start the sauce. Add the onion, allowing it to colour, then the chopped garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Stir together and allow to cook for a moment, then pour in the red wine. Once some of the liquid has cooked off, add the tomato purée, sprinkle on the sugar and chuck in the tomatoes and herbs. Stir together and bring the heat down as low as possible; you want this to simmer for as long as you can (I would recommend 15-20 minutes minimum) to make it as thick and rich as a Premiership footballer.
At this stage, set a large pan of water to boil for the spaghetti.
Once the sauce is looking good, add the meatballs to it (I did mention a deep frying pan, didn't I?) and gently simmer away. When the water is boiling, add the spaghetti, which should take 10-15 minutes depending on what is says on the packet (or how you like your spaghetti).
Keep an eye on the meatballs and sauce and stir occasionally, but gently. Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain and serve with 3-4 meatballs per person, topped with the rich tomato sauce (and, if possible, accompanied with a nice Valpolicella).
Comments
Just cooked this & I have to say it's very good! The sauce is excellent, the addition of the sun dried tomatoes makes all the difference to your normal run of the mill tomato sauce. I did have a problem keeping my lamb balls binded together though :-O
had this about 30mins ago, v.tasty really liked the subtle lemon taste in the centre of the meat balls (I made them smaller then yours). Thanks. :)
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