I know, I know. Technically It's Italian. But Spaghetti and Meatballs always reminds me of New York Italian's who run pizza business' and are scared of their Mum's. Stereotypical, moi??!!
Say it with an accent (meeet-booooaaaals) there you go. This recipe has no tomatoes in it. It has some puree but the sauce is made from roasted peppers (the one's you buy in a jar) and it is tasty! The recipe puts mozzarella in the middle of the meatballs - you could leave it out if you want to. So roll up your sleeves and lets get cracking!!!
Recipe (adapted from Mince! by Mitzie Wilson):
Meatballs:
500g minced beef
A large glug of BBQ sauce (I use Jack Daniel's)
50g fresh breadcrumbs ( I use egg if there's no bread in the house)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
small handful of fresh parsley, chopped (really easy to grow in the garden)
1 tsp dried oregano
75g mozzarella
salt and pepper
oil to seal the meatballs
Sauce:
1 small onion, diced (doesn't have to be fancy as we are blending it)
2 roasted red peppers from a jar, diced
2 tbsp tomato puree
splash of orange or lemon juice
200ml beef stock (oxo will do)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Meatballs. Mix all of the ingredients needed for the meatballs except the mozzarella. To make the meatballs ooze with cheese they need to be quite big, the size of a golf ball will do. If your not using the cheese, any size you like - you can roll them up and put straight into the frying pan to seal.
Cut the mozzarella into chunks. Flatten each ball in turn and place some cheese into the centre. Fold the meat around the cheese and pinch well to close the meatball.
Seal in a hot frying pan on all sides until brown (about 5 -10 mins).
Sauce. Fry the onion in oil or the pan juices from the meatballs until soft. Add the tomato puree and peppers and cook for 1 min. Add the balsamic vinegar and orange/lemon juice. Make up your stock.
Put your mixture and a little of the stock into a blender and blend til smooth (I use a hand blender). Put the blended sauce into a large pan and stir in the remaining stock.
Add the meatballs to the sauce making sure they are covered (swirl the pan around like a pro) and cook for 10 mins. I put the meat into the sauce at the same time as I put the pasta on. Spaghetti takes 10 mins (set the timer).
When the pasta is cooked, add a ladle of the sauce and mix. Dish out the pasta with the meatballs and extra sauce on top. MMMmmmmmmmmmm.
Really, there's no need to thank me, just enjoy!
I made cupcakes.
I even bought the dogs a red, white and blue tugger.
Whilst in Manchester I visited Sweet Tooth cupcakery. I had a Joni Mitchell (below, vanilla cake with a maple syrup frosting) and an amaretto milkshake. Yum.
The Boss had an Iggy Pop (below, vanilla cake with a peanut butter frosting).
The Boss treated me to a PB and cookie Twix and Cherry Pepsi (we found these in Powerplay in Leicester). The 'soda' is special as I first had it on the holiday where I fell in love with american food back in 2000. I would have french toast and a can of cherry pepsi every morning. Good times.
I went to Cardiff and bought these lovely things. OMG Tootsie Rolls are goooood! 
I was particularly proud of this find. Louisiana Hot Sauce in the corner shop near work! Totally random but good in an omlette!
