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–+ servings

Beef & Pork Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

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Prep 20 minutes
Cook 40 minutes
These Italian-style meatballs combine beef and pork mince with Parmesan, garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs. They're browned first for flavour, then gently simmered in a simple tomato sauce until tender. Serve them with spaghetti for a complete meal, or skip the pasta and bring plenty of crusty bread to the table instead.
Servings 4
Course Whole Meal
Cuisine Italian inspired

Ingredients

  • Beef & Pork Meatballs
  • 300 g beef mince
  • 300 g pork mince
  • 60 g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 80 ml milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 40 g Parmesan finely grated
  • 3 tsp minced garlic
  • 3 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp olive oil for browning
  • Tomato Sauce
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium brown onion finely diced
  • 3 tsp minced garlic
  • 800 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes optional
  • 100 ml water
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • Small handful fresh basil
  • To Serve
  • 375 g spaghetti
  • 30 –40 g Parmesan finely grated
  • Fresh basil or parsley
  • Extra virgin olive oil optional

Method

  1. Soak the breadcrumbs
  2. Place the breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Pour over the milk and mix.
  4. Leave for around 5 minutes until the breadcrumbs have absorbed the milk and softened.
  5. This becomes a simple panade and is one of the things helping keep the meatballs tender.
  6. Make the meatball mixture
  7. Add the beef, pork, egg, Parmesan, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt and black pepper to the soaked breadcrumbs.
  8. Mix everything together gently with your hands.
  9. You want all the ingredients evenly distributed, but don't knead the mixture aggressively.
  10. The more you compact the mince, the firmer and more sausage-like the finished meatballs become.
  11. Test the seasoning
  12. Before shaping everything, take a teaspoon of the mixture and cook it in a small frying pan.
  13. Taste it.
  14. This gives you the opportunity to adjust the salt, pepper or herbs before you've committed to 20 meatballs.
  15. With Parmesan already in the mixture, I'd be particularly careful about automatically adding more salt.
  16. Shape the meatballs
  17. Divide the mixture into approximately 20 portions, around 35–40 g each.
  18. Roll gently into balls.
  19. Don't squeeze them into perfectly dense spheres.
  20. Place on a plate or tray and refrigerate for 15–20 minutes if you have time.
  21. This helps them firm up before browning.
  22. Make the Tomato Sauce
  23. Cook the onion
  24. Heat 1 tablespoon EVOO in a large deep frying pan or shallow casserole over medium heat.
  25. Add the onion with a small pinch of salt.
  26. Cook for approximately 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent.
  27. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
  28. Cook the tomato paste
  29. Add the tomato paste.
  30. Cook for around 1 minute, stirring it through the onion and garlic.
  31. I like giving tomato paste a little direct heat rather than immediately diluting it with tomatoes.
  32. Add the tomatoes
  33. Crush the whole tomatoes by hand or with a spoon and add them with their juices.
  34. Add the oregano, optional chilli flakes and 100 ml water.
  35. Bring to a gentle simmer.
  36. Cook uncovered for around 10 minutes while you brown the meatballs.
  37. Brown the Meatballs
  38. Heat the pan
  39. Heat a separate large frying pan over medium-high heat.
  40. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil.
  41. You don't need enough oil to deep-fry the meatballs. We're just trying to develop colour.
  42. Brown in batches
  43. Add the meatballs without overcrowding the pan.
  44. Brown for around 4–5 minutes total, turning carefully so several sides develop colour.
  45. They don't need to be cooked through.
  46. Transfer the browned meatballs to a plate and repeat with the remaining batch.
  47. Don't waste the browned bits
  48. Once the meatballs are finished, there should be browned meat and juices stuck to the frying pan.
  49. Add a small splash of water to the hot pan.
  50. Scrape everything up with a wooden spoon.
  51. Pour that liquid into the tomato sauce.
  52. That's flavour you already created. There's no reason to wash it down the sink.
  53. Finish the Meatballs in the Sauce
  54. Add the meatballs
  55. Carefully place the browned meatballs into the simmering tomato sauce.
  56. Spoon some sauce over the tops.
  57. They don't need to be completely submerged.
  58. Simmer gently
  59. Reduce the heat to low.
  60. Partially cover and simmer for approximately 15–20 minutes, gently turning the meatballs once if necessary.
  61. Avoid aggressively stirring the pot.
  62. The meatballs are considerably more delicate than pieces of braising meat.
  63. Once cooked through, remove the lid and let the sauce reduce for another 5 minutes if it seems too thin.
  64. Finish the sauce
  65. Tear in the fresh basil.
  66. Taste the sauce before seasoning.
  67. The meatballs will have released seasoned juices, Parmesan and pork fat into the tomatoes, so the sauce at this point won't taste exactly as it did before the meatballs went in.
  68. Adjust salt, pepper and chilli if required.
  69. Cook the Spaghetti
  70. Boil the pasta
  71. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil.
  72. Cook the 375 g spaghetti until just al dente.
  73. Before draining, reserve around 250 ml pasta water.
  74. Sauce the pasta
  75. This is where I'd do something slightly differently from simply dumping meatballs onto plain spaghetti.
  76. Remove the meatballs temporarily from the tomato sauce.
  77. Transfer the drained spaghetti into the sauce.
  78. Add a small splash of pasta water and toss over medium heat for around 1 minute.
  79. The spaghetti should be properly coated in tomato sauce.
  80. Add more pasta water only if needed.
  81. Serve
  82. Twirl the tomato-coated spaghetti onto each plate.
  83. Add 4–5 meatballs per person.
  84. Spoon additional tomato sauce over the top.
  85. Finish with freshly grated Parmesan, basil or parsley and black pepper.
  86. A small drizzle of good EVOO at the table is optional.

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