Keep It Rolling

Meat Ball Spaghetti

Whether you are cooking for a party of toddlers and kids….. or simply trying to bring back those good old memory of the high school days, Meat Ball Spaghetti would be one of the musts that you want to keep those fulfilling time rolling!

serves 4

the sauce 

1 leek / 2 celery sticks, chopped

2 pieces of carrots, chopped

½ purple onion, chopped in wedges

6-8 large quality sweet tomatoes / 2 cans of plum tomato, skinned and deseeded

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp of tomato paste

the sizable meat ball

300g minced pork

200g minced beef

1 cup of bread crumbs

1 egg

2 Italian shallots, finely chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds

basil, chopped

sea salt and pepper

the final touch

a dash of maple syrup

parmesan, sliced
basil, roughly chopped

salt and pepper to taste
500g spaghetti

• Cut a cross on top of each tomatoes. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 20 secs then remove and put straight into iced cold water. Skinned and deseeded the tomatoes 5 minutes after. 
• Stir fry leek / celery, carrots and shallots with olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper. Once the aroma is out and vegetable slightly softened, pour in the tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes. 
• Pour the veggies into the blender and puree into sauce base. Re-apply into the casserole and fold in bay leaf and tomato paste.
• Mix meat ball ingredients well. Pat the mixture into 2 inches balls and coat them by rolling roll over extra bread crumbs, set aside. 
• Pan fry meat balls in medium hot pan with olive oil till the surface is lightly browned and crisp. Add the meat balls into the prepared vegetable sauce and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the meat balls are well cooked.
• Meanwhile cook the spaghetti to a large pan of boiling salted water till al dente, about 8 minutes, then drain.
• Season and taste the sauce base with extra, salt, pepper and a dash of maple syrup to bring a balance to the intensity of the tomato paste.
• Serve meat balls on spaghetti with a generous pour of vegetable sauce. Sprinkle parmesan and extra basil on top.

Tips: Being a Montrealers for 9 years, my auntie Esme taught me how splendid maple syrup could work to bring in a balance of sweetness and tartness of many sauce base.