Ingredients:
For The Meatballs
- 1 onion, very finely chopped ( you can use one of those small electric choppers if you have them)
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 kg of good quality minced beef
- 50g of breadcrumbs
- 30g of good quality grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg beaten
- Salt and pepper to season
For The Tomato Sauce
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- 1 glass of red wine
- Approx 30g of Basil or more if you desire
- 1 small tsp of sugar, depending on how sweet you tomatoes are you may need to add more or less.
- Sea Salt and fresh black pepper
- Sunflower Oil
Directions:
- Heat a little drop of oil in a large oven proof dish over a medium heat, add the chopped onion, give a good stir, turn the heat down, cover with a lid and allow to sweat for 5 to 10 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Once they are soft and nicely caramelised add the crushed garlic and stir through, allow to cook for a minute or two.
- When you have this done turn the heat up, add the red wine and allow to reduce down by almost a half before adding the two tins of chopped tomatoes, the sugar and salt and pepper. Rinse one of the cans with water and add approx half a can of water to the sauce. Allow to simmer for 5 to 10 mins.
- While the sauce is simmering place all the ingredients for the meatballs into a bowl and mix well to combine making sure you have them seasoned well. Take a small piece of the mix (about the size of a golf ball) and roll in the palm of you hands until you have a nice smooth ball shape.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium/high heat and brown the meatballs on all sides. You will have to do this in batches to prevent over crowding and cooling down the frying pan. Once browned transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel.
- Check the seasoning on the tomato sauce and tear in the basil, allow it to cook down for a minute or so before blitzing with a soup gun or in a liquidizer.
- Add all of the meatballs to the oven dish with the tomato sauce and place into the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes making sure the meatballs are piping hot and cooked through.
- Serve with Spaghetti, Linguine or Tagliatelle and garnish with torn basil and fresh basil shavings.