Big, tasty, rich and full of flavour – thats pretty much all there is to say about this simple recipe. This recipe is the king of meatballs. And the recipe is so easy to make, that with practice and prep you can have the meal ready, on the table and ready to munch in 30mins flat. This makes the effort to flavour ratio a no brainer.

The (not-so) secret to these moist, light meatballs is the white bread soaked in milk. To those unused to this, at first this may sound a touch weird. But doing this allows the bread to act as a binder – adding structure to your balls, without imparting any overpowering flavours or making them to tough. Also only using one egg as binding agent makes the meatballs softer, as the bread soaked in milk will make them bind enough. The simple tomato sauce acts like a rich tomato gravy – adding some zing to the meatballs whilst moistening the whole dish and imparting its own strong and complimentary sweet, tangy flavours. And the meatballs can be frozen raw, or even cooked and saved for a few days – just make sure they are properly defrosted and then heated properly. My girlfriend likes to make up a really good mini-salad of mozzarella and sliced tomato, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar that is great with this dish too.

INGREDIENTS

• 200g white bread – stale if possible
• Milk – enough to soak the bread
• 500g minced beef
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan
• 4 anchovies, chopped finely
• 2 tins of tomatoes
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp of caster sugar
• 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup of beef stock
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1 tbsp of dried oregano
• 400g/14oz dried spaghetti
  
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

PREPARATION METHOD:

1. Start by preparing and cooking the tomato sauce. In a saucepan, heat a tbsp of olive oil, then add half the chopped onions and garlic and saute until the onions are caramelised and starting to brown – around 3 mins.
2. Add the red wine vinegar. Add the tinned tomatoes, a squeeze of lemon juice, some Worcestershire sauce, stock and the sugar.  Reduce to a simmer and leave to reduce while making the meatballs for around 7-10 minutes, and until you have a thick sauce.
3. Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4. In a suitable container leave the bread  to soak with the milk. In a larger mixing bowl, mix the minced beef, parmesan, anchovies, half the parsley and the rest of the onions and garlic, then the egg.
4. Add the bread, carefully squeezing most of the excess milk from it first. Then the red wine. Mix in well, really get stuck in, and then season with salt and pepper. Mould into balls – the mix should make around 12 balls.
5. Heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, and when hot, add the meatballs, turning as they colour; this should take about five minutes. If necessary, cook in batches so they are not all squashed together – otherwise to much moisture will infiltrate the pan and you’ll end up stewing them. Transfer the pan to the oven and flash them for 5 mins.
6. In a pan of salted boiling water start to cook the spaghetti.
7. Then, drain the oil from the meatball pan, then transfer them to the same pan as the sauce.
8. Place the whole mixture in the oven for 5 minutes – stick a knife in to check that they are hot in the centre.
9. To serve, drain the spaghetti when cooked, place a small mound of the pasta on to a plate, spoon on a good quantity of the tomato sauce, place the meatballs on top.

MUSIC I COOKED TOO: