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Meatballs in tomato sauce with spaghetti

Meatballs that finish cooking in a simple tomato sauce, with spaghetti alongside. You roll them yourself and brown them first. On the table in under an hour.

  • Easy
  • Little chopping
  • Meat
  • One pan

Recipe by Lydia Louter · Cuisine: Italian

Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Total
50 min
A deep plate of spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce and grated Parmesan on top, with a fork beside it on a wooden table.

Method

  1. Step 1: Knead 500 g beef and pork mince, 1 egg, 40 g breadcrumbs and 1 tsp salt together in a bowl until it holds together. With wet hands, roll it into balls about the size of a walnut.

  2. Step 2: Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a wide pan and brown the meatballs all over for about 5 minutes. If they don't all fit side by side, do it in two batches. They don't need to be cooked through yet. Transfer them to a plate.

    Timer 5 min

  3. Step 3: In the same pan, soften 1 onion and 2 cloves garlic over a medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir in 30 g tomato purée and fry for 1 more minute.

    Timer 4 min

  4. Step 4: Add 800 g chopped tomatoes and 1 bay leaf and bring to the boil. Put the meatballs back in, turn the heat down low and let the sauce simmer gently for 20 minutes with the lid slightly ajar. Stir carefully now and then.

    Timer 20 min

  5. Step 5: Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Cook 400 g spaghetti in plenty of salted water according to the packet, usually about 10 minutes, then drain.

    Timer 10 min

  6. Step 6: Take the bay leaf out of the sauce. Taste, then finish with black pepper and a little more salt if it needs it. Divide the spaghetti between the plates, spoon the meatballs and sauce on top and scatter 40 g Parmesan over.

About this recipe

Brown the meatballs first, even though they finish cooking in the sauce. What sticks to the bottom of the pan dissolves into the tomatoes and gives the sauce more flavour than tinned tomatoes can on their own. Then keep the sauce at a gentle simmer rather than a boil, so the meatballs stay tender and hold together.

next time roll the meatballs smaller so they cook through faster

Tips

  • Roll the meatballs with wet hands so the mince doesn't stick to them.
  • Missing some herbs? A teaspoon of dried oregano in the sauce or fresh basil on top goes well.
  • Cooking for eight or more? Brown the meatballs in more batches and use a bigger pan for the sauce: in a crowded pan they steam instead of browning.

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