Spaghetti and meatballs with secret vegetable sauce
Prep:
15 mins
Cook:
30 mins
Loads of hidden vegetables in this family favoured dish.
For the meatballs
300g good quality pork sausages
500g lean beef mince
1 small onion, coarsely grated
1 carrot, finely grated
1 tbsp dried oregano
50g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
1 medium egg
1 tbsp olive oil
For the sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 courgette, coarsely grated
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tbsp tomato purée
Pinch caster sugar
Splash red wine vinegar
2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
300g cooked spaghetti
Squeeze all the sausage meat out of the sausage skins into a large bowl and add the beef mince.
Tip all the rest of the meatball ingredients, except the olive oil, into the bowl and season with black pepper then squish everything together through your hands until completely mixed.
Older children can of course help with this but make sure hands are washed before and after and no tasting!
Roll the meatball mix into balls and place them on a plate.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the courgette and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until soft.
Stir in the tomato puree, sugar and vinegar and cook for another minute then tip in the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
Blitz the sauce using a food processor or hand blender then return to the saucepan and simmer on low.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and, brown the meatballs in batches if necessary, on all sides then add them into the sauce.
Once all of the meatballs are in the sauce, continue to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring until the meatballs are cooked through.
Serve with cooked spaghetti and
grated parmesan cheese and a few torn basil leaves if you like.
Serves
6
Preparation Time
15 minutes
Cooking Time
30 minutes
Main ingredients
Beef, Pasta & Noodles, Pork, Vegetables
Recipe Type
Family Dinners, Healthy, Kids Food
Cuisine
Italian
Level of Difficulty
Easy
This sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months once fully cooled.
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