Ahh meatballs! Who doesn’t like meatballs, I guess the vegetarians don’t; BTW you can make a all veggie variation of this, which I will put up in another post, for now let’s talk meat. This recipe is basically a Spaghetti Bolognese but the meat is turned into meatballs. Simple huh, yes! But a lil more elbow grease, and the best part is you can make these in advance and all you have to do is assemble it before eating.

INGREDIENTS
Meatballs
500g of Veal and Pork, minced equal quantities (normally beef)
2 rashes of the best quality bacon (Smokey, Pancetta, etc.), chopped
2 Pork frankfurters, minced
1 Onion Large, minced
2 Large Garlic clove, minced
1 Large egg, beaten
50g fresh breadcrumbs
30g Cheddar cheese, grated
2tbs Flat leaf Parsley, chopped
1tsp Oregano, dried
1tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
 
1.5 – 2 Ltr Tomato Sauce
500g Pack dried Spaghetti or 750g Fresh Spaghetti
Olive oil for cooking
 
PROCEDURE
1. In a saucepan add a little olive oil, once heated add the bacon and render on a medium flame for a few minutes, once it starts to brown add the sausage and do the same for a few minutes, turn off the heat and cool down to room temperature.
2. Once the saucepan has cooled add all the other ingredients for the meatballs and mix well with your hands, ensure the mixture is at the right consistency, not too dry not too wet, if its too dry add few drops of oil and if its too wet add more bread crumb.
3. Let the mix rest for 10 minutes then use a melon-baller and make one meatball and test it on a frying pan with hot oil, 25g size for smaller meatballs or larger, as you prefer. If the mix is too wet you will get a lot of liquid in the pan and the oil will splatter, add more breadcrumb to adjust the consistency. Make all the meatballs and arrange on a platter.
4. Add oil to a frying pan, heat till it smokes and place meatballs in a clockwise direction starting from the handle, keeping about one meatball space between each. Once you’ve finished placing the meatballs (as many fit in the pan) start overturning from the first meatball sequentially, cook for a minute and repeat the process. After the last overturned meatball is placed cook for 1-min and take them off and place on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess fat. Finish cooking all the meatballs in a similar manner and place it on a oven rack and cook in the oven for 30-mins on medium, taste for doneness. Place the rack on the kitchen counter and bring to room temperature.
5. Cook the pasta in 4ltr of salted boiling water for 8-9 minutes if packaged and 1-2 minutes if fresh, generally 1 tsp of salt per liter of water.
6. Add the desired amount of meatballs to the tomato sauce in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, once heated and the spaghetti is cooked, serve the spaghetti in a soup plate, ladle the sauce over the top and place the meatballs, as many as desired.