Easy Italian meatballs recipe

Posted in Recipes.
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It’s no family secret that while my husband is awesome at many things, his cooking (mostly) leaves a lot to be desired. His repertoire is quite limited – think spaghetti, tuna mornay, the KanTong range – so the kids and I are keen to broaden his culinary horizons. We’re starting out with basic, easy peasy, meatballs. And the bonus? All three kids eat them with gusto and without complaint. Winner winner, Dad’s cooked dinner!

The most time consuming part of this recipe is the rolling and browning of the meatballs and honestly, the more kids you have, the more helpful rolling hands you have – so here’s a fantastic opportunity to get the whole family in the kitchen for some cooking fun.

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Ingredients

For meatballs
2 slices of white bread
1/3 cup of milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium brown onion, diced fine
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 medium carrot, grated
1kg mince beef
ΒΌ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 egg
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
salt and pepper

For tomato sauce

700g tomato passata or your favourite pasta sauce
1 cup chicken stock

Method

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  • Place your bread in a large bowl and add the milk. Let it stand for 10 minutes.

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  • Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and while stirring, let it cook for five minutes until soft.

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  • Add the onion mixture to the soaked, spongy bread mixture. Add the rest of the meatballs ingredients and season well with salt and pepper.

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  • Using the best tools in the kitchen – your clean hands – mix the meatball mixture together. Scoop a heaped tablespoon of mixture and using wet hands, roll meatballs.

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  • Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large deep frying pan and cook the balls in batches until browned. Set the cooked meatballs aside and keep warm.

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  • Add 700g of tomato passata (or your choice of pasta sauce) and one cup of chicken stock to the frying pan and bring to the boil.

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  • Return the meatballs to the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes or until meatballs are cooked through!

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  • Serve the meatballs with parmesan cheese and basil.

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A recipe from The Australian Women’s Weekly, it serves five people comfortably. Make it stretch even further by adding silky spaghetti and a fresh salad.

Make sure to browse our recipe archives for more great meal ideas and treats to try.

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