Spaghetti with herby pork meatballs – Rachel Allen Home Cooking

I’ve made meatballs before and the tomato sauce is a standard tomato pasta sauce but I’ve never made pork meatballs so decided to follow Rachel’s recipe to the letter. I liked the way she laid out the steps made it very quick to make the meal. They were lovely and herby. I find the suggestion of mozarella or parmesan odd as these are such different cheeses, I personally wouldn’t use mozarella.

Ingredients for meatballs

• 450g (1lb) minced pork
• 1tsp finely chopped parsley
• 1tsp thyme leaves
• 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed or finely grated
• 1 egg beaten
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1-tbsp olive oil
• 300g spaghetti
• grated mozzarella or Parmesan to serve

Ingredients for the herb and tomato sauce

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion peeled and sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 x 410g tins chopped tomatoes or 900g fresh ripe
• tomatoess skinned
• 1tsp caster sugar
• 3tsp finely chopped marjoram or 2 tsp finely chopped sage

Instructions

1. Place the minced pork, parsley, thyme, garlic and egg into a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix well together.
2. Using wet hands, for the mixture into 16-20 tiny little meatballs, each about 2cm in diameter and then place in the fridge (up to 24hrs) or store in the freezer (defrosting well before use) until you are ready to cook them.
3. Next, prepare the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion and garlic on a gentle heat for about 6 mins until soft and slightly golden.  Add tomatoes, sugar and 2 tsps of the marjoram or sage and season well with salt and pepper.  Simmer sauce gently, uncovered for about 30 minutes until reduced and thickened.
4. When you are ready to cook the meatballs, pour the olive oil into a large frying pan on a medium heat, add the meatballs and fry for 12-15 mins, turning regularly until evenly browned and cooked through.  Alternatively, fry them for a minute all over until well browned and transfer to the oven preheated to 230 degrees C, Gas mark 8 for 10 minutes until cooked through.
5. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti in a large pan of slightly salted boiling water for 8-10 mins until al dente. Drain well.
6. To serve, pour the sauce over the cooked spaghetti and add the meatballs.  toss everything together and serve with a scattering of mozzarella or Parmesan and the remaining marjoram or sage.

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