Spicy Tomato Meatballs
Winter here in Sydney means lots of slow cooking and winter warming recipes. Well sometimes you need warming up super quick and these spicy meatballs do the trick! Quick to whip up, and spicy flavours to keep you warm!
I made them and ate them as a stew - I didn’t even wait to make pasta…but by all means serve ‘em with lots of spaghetti.
Oh, these meatballs are super delicious baked into meatball stuffed bread - recipe coming soon!
Meatballs
1 onion, chopped very finely in a food processor
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
250g free-range pork mince
250g beef mince
2 rashers streaky bacon, finely chopped
1 free-range egg
1 tablespoon fresh thyme sprigs/or rosemary sprigs
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
2 teaspoons kecap manis
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
50g grated Parmesan or Pecorino
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Salt and ground black pepper
Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
125g cherry tomatoes
1 x 400g tin whole tomatoes
125mls red wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper
To make the meatballs, preheat the oven to 200°C or 180°C fan.
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, breaking up the mince and making sure you distribute all the breadcrumbs evenly.
Line two baking trays with baking paper. Roll the mixture into balls about the size of golf ball. Place them on the baking trays and put into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.
To make the spicy tomato sauce, put a large heavy based saucepan onto the stove top on a medium heat. Add the extra virgin olive oil and the garlic and cook until the garlic is softened. Don’t burn it!
Add the cherry tomatoes to the saucepan and fry for a couple of minutes to soften. Pour in the tin of tomatoes and using a masher or fork, break the tomatoes up. Add the red wine and stir. Add the Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt and black pepper. Simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
To serve, slather the meatballs in lots of sauce! Scatter with chopped parsley or coriander, and extra cheese if you like. And for those who like it hot, add extra chilli sauce.