Meatballs in Tomato and Vegetable Sauce
Meatballs in Tomato and Vegetable Sauce
I love this meal. To be honest you have to invest a bit of time into cooking it, but the results are worth it. These meatballs are a mile away from the processed meat-like blobs Campbells put into tins. I didn’t even really like those things as a child, so god only knows what they would taste like to an adult palate! Luckily, we don’t have to know – we have meatballs in tomato and vegetable sauce!
Ingredients
- Minced steak (600g)
- Garlic
- Parmesan cheese
- Beef stock cube
- Kale
- Carrots
- Chopped tomatoes
- Tomato puree
- Onion
How-to Guide
- Place mince in the bowl.
- Chop the garlic into tiny chunks and crumble the stock cube.
- Add the garlic and stock cube to the steak, along with tomato puree.
- Mix thoroughly and shape into golf ball sized meatballs.
- When the meatballs are formed, leave them aside for a few minutes as the salt in the stock cubes will help them bind without the need for egg.
- Chop the onion into large rings and chop the other garlic cube into small chunks. Gently fry on a medium heat in a little oil.
- Whilst the onions and garlic are cooking, chop the carrots into small chunks. When chopped, add to the onions to start cooking.
- After a few minutes cooking, add the chopped tomato to the vegetables.
- Re-fill the tomato tin with water or more beef stock and pour into the pot – this adds extra liquid that is needed later.
- When the tomatoes and extra liquid is added, bring the sauce to the boil for 5 minutes before reducing to a simmer. The longer this sauce cooks, the more intense the flavours become.
- Whilst the sauce is cooking, fry the meatballs in a little oil to seal them. The aim isn’t to cook them through, just to make sure they keep their shape.
- When the meatballs are sealed, place them into the bowl, ready to be added to the sauce later.
- When the sauce is simmering, add the kale to it and reduce the temperature to a very low simmer.
- After 45 minutes (or longer if you have time) of simmering, add grated parmesan to the pot and keep on the low heat. This helps to season the sauce without adding more salt.
- Around 20 minutes before serving, add the meatballs to the pot to cook through fully.
- After 20 minutes when the meatballs are fully cooked, serve with a bit of extra parmesan (if you like) and enjoy!
The finished meatballs in tomato and vegetable sauce….
Like I said, this dish takes a little more effort than the others, but the results are more than worth it. Use the sauce as a vehicle for lots of vegetables to make it more substantial and even healthier! I didn’t add any, but peas and beans would also add extra quantity and taste to the dish.
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