Spaghetti and Meatballs

You will see from tonight's picture that I wasn't fibbing when I said my children won't eat half of the goodies I produce for them - the blighters!  But, undeterred, I battle on, with the shining, golden thought in the future of that wonderful day when everyone will eat everything and LIKE IT!  (sorry, I'm suddenly feeling a little unwell....)

So, tonight's delish dish was Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Garlic Bread.  Usually, I make tuna polpettine which are tuna meatballs, but tonight I had bought some beef meatballs from Waitrose (I don't even have to touch the meat!) and I just had the tomato sauce - perfect for Vegetarians, Fussy Monsters and Foodies alike!




Spaghetti and Meatballs  (serves 5)

1 packet of spaghetti
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
a splash of red wine
1 tin tomatoes
sprig of basil, torn roughly
Seasoning
1 packet of fresh meatballs
oil for cooking

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, and add some salt.  Heat a frying pan for the meatballs and heat a saucepan for the sauce.
Put a tbs of oil in the saucepan, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins or so until golden.  Add the splash of red wine and cook to reduce the liquid for another 2 mins.  Tip in the tomatoes and basil, season, and leave to cook while you get on with the rest.

Add a tbs of oil to the frying pan and add the meatballs.  Cook them, turning, until they are browned all over (about 12 mins).
At the same time, tip the required amount of spaghetti into the water and cook for 8 minutes (never mind what it says on the packet!).

Whizz the sauce to a puree.  Drain the spaghetti, add a few knobs of butter or a splash of oil (to stop it sticking) and serve with a spoonful of sauce and meatballs on the top.


Homemade Garlic Bread

Now, I was a bit of a super-woman tonight!  At the same time this was going on, I put about 5 tbs of soft butter (Lurpak spreadable) into a dish, and added two crushed cloves of garlic and a tbs of dried parsley, then mixed them together.  I had half a french loaf in the bread bin, so I sliced it almost through into 2 cm slices, then spread both sides of the slices with the butter.  I baked it in a 200 degree/Gas mk 5 oven for about 10 minutes.