A thoroughly modern meatball

Turkey and parmesan meatballs with rich tomato sauce – a thoroughly modern meatball made from low fat turkey mince which, for ease, I tend to bake in the oven rather than fry.  Don’t let me stop you from getting out the frying pan though.

You will have plenty leftover to freeze for another day

You will need:

For the meatballs

1 packet of turkey or chicken mince

3 tablespoons of grated parmesan

3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs (from your bag in the freezer - we can talk about that later)

A large handful of finely chopped flat leaf parsley

1 medium onion finely chopped

3 garlic cloves finely chopped or squished in a pestle and mortar

A dash of Worcestershire sauce

A glug of olive oil

2 beaten eggs

Salt and pepper

For the tomato sauce

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

A pinch of dried oregano

2 bay-leaves

1 chopped chilli - you choose the variety but I am particularly fond of scotch bonnets. I love their distinctive, almost floral, flavor. They are on the fiery side though.  

1 level dessertspoon of caster sugar

3 chopped or squashed (in a pestle and mortar or garlic press) garlic cloves

A squirt (about 2 teaspoons) of tomato puree

A generous tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Meal ideas

Serve the meatballs and spicy tomato sauce with:

A liberal strewing of fresh basil and some brown bread and butter

Brown basmati rice, sour cream and rocket

Spaghetti

Broccoli (if you can get the tender-stem variety that is actually tender then so much the better. Bit of a challenge this.) 

Also good served with a plain, undressed green salad made from floppy old fashioned lettuce

Heat the oven to 190

For your balls;

Fry the chopped onion gently in a tablespoon of oil and a knob of butter until soft and golden brown but not caramelized. Leave to cool for a few minutes whilst you measure the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl.

Mix the cooled onions with the remainder of the meatball ingredients.  I find a large pyrex salad bowl a useful piece of equipment here. Pop the bowl of mix in the fridge for an hour or so to firm up if you have the time although it will not be a disaster if you don’t.

Oil your large roasting tin.

Form ping pong ball sized meatballs and line up them on the roasting tin.

Bake in the oven until lightly browned – about half an hour.  You do not really need to fiddle with them during this time.  In fact, if you do you may end up with mashed balls.  As it were.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and set aside.

Whilst the meatballs are doing their thing you can be getting on with the sauce;

Begin by frying the garlic for about 30 seconds in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  Then add your balsamic and stand back as it sizzles and boils and spits alarmingly.  Add in the rest of the ingredients along with a splash of hot water from the kettle. Turn the heat down low and let everything simmer away until the sauce is reduced by about half and is lovely and sticky. The longer the better but it will take at least half an hour.  Taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

When you are ready to eat count out as many meatballs as you think you can (or should) eat and heat them gently in half of the tomato sauce.  The rest of the meatballs and sauce can be frozen (separately) ready for one of those days when you come home from work and wrench open the fridge door without even removing your coat. 

On such a day simply pop the meatballs and the sauce in the microwave on defrost whilst you get changed and then warm things up properly in a non stick saucepan.  Serve with a warm crusty baguette and a bunch of rocket.  Alternatively you could put the balls and the sauce in a small lasagna dish, cover the lot with grated cheddar and bake in the oven at 180 until the top is all crispy and brown and the tomato sauce is bubbling.

More things to do with your spare balls.

Heat them up in a decent chicken stock with plenty of chopped parsley and some vermicelli pasta.  You could throw in some spinach leaves at the last minute if you like.

Re-heat them in the oven and then stuff them into toasted white pitta with a good handful of soft lettuce, a couple of  slivers of red onion and an obscene slathering of mayonnaise.

Take them to work to be eaten cold with a couple of tomatoes and flakes of malden sea salt.  Your co-workers will complain about the smell of garlic but do you care?