Spaghetti and Meatballs!!

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!