How to cook: Meatballs in tomato sauce

Use the best quality mince you can as it will make all the difference to the finished dish.

Instructions

Put the olive oil in a wide-mouthed pan that will hold about 2 litres. Add the onion and garlic and stir over a medium heat until the onion is soft but not brown.

Add tomatoes, then red wine, stock or water and carrots; stir in salt and pepper and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook 10 minutes while you make the meatballs.

Put all ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Use a spoon or a spatula to mix them together until just combined.

Wet your hands and gently roll 16 balls, each about the size of a golf ball. Drop each ball into the simmering sauce as you form them.

Simmer for 30 minutes, turning each ball over after 15 minutes. Add more liquid as the sauce thickens if necessary.

Serve steaming hot with either pasta or potatoes and a green vegetable or a salad.

Variations

• If you prefer the added flavour of browned meatballs, heat a little oil in a heavy-based pan. Quickly brown a few meatballs at a time, shaking the pan to keep the round shape, then add to the sauce.
• Sometimes minced venison is available and this makes fantastic meatballs. Lean mince of pork, veal or lamb is good, or ask your butcher to mince together a combination of beef, veal and pork.
• Add freshly chopped thyme, marjoram or oregano and leave out the mint. Dried herbs are fine – just keep in mind you will need much less, according to your taste.
• Add frozen peas in the last 5 minutes of cooking.
• Double or triple this recipe for more people but use less salt and pepper.
• To make party snacks, form small meatballs and fry them quickly. Only cook a few at a time, using a non-stick frying pan with just a smear of olive oil and shake the pan occasionally to keep them round. Good quality mince cooks quickly. Serve the sauce separately as a dip.
  

What you need to know

• Look for mince with the least white marbling. Top quality mince has less fat because it is made from lean cuts of meat. 'Premium' grade has the least fat, 'prime' slightly more fat and 'choice' is made from fattier cuts.
• It is easy to form meatballs if you keep a bowl of water on the bench and wet your hands as you roll the balls so nothing sticks.
• To make even-sized meatballs, use your hands to roughly divide the mix in half then half again, until you reach golf ball size.
• The balls freeze well raw or cooked, so it is worth making extra.
• Chop the onions as finely as possible, especially for the meat mix. I sometimes use my food processor to chop onions. Both the meatballs and sauce contain onion and garlic, so chop the whole quantity at once. 1 large onion makes about 1 cup.
• Tinned Italian-style tomatoes have a good flavour and come chopped or whole. If you use whole tomatoes, mash them to a rough pulp as the sauce thickens.