Pasta with Meatballs

from Nigella Bites
Nigella Lawson
The UK's latest, & certainly most stunning, celebrity food personality. Let the backbiting begin in earnest. There are too many author photos, too much borrowing ( but at least she cites her sources ), and what's with the trash cooking ( Elvis's infamous fried peanut butter and banana sandwich again)? However, a taste of slow-roasted pork shoulder, aromatic lamb shank stew or raspberry and lemongrass trifle will stop the critics cold. Give us more! $50.00.

This is definitely time consuming, but here I make no apology for that. And there is nothing like serving up a bowl of pasta with meatballs to make you feel like an Italian mamma out of a Hollywood film. I don't mean one of those redoubtable types in amorphous black; think Sophia Loren in the kitchen. It works for me.

The trick to these meatballs is to keep them small. Don't actually use a teaspoon, but use about a teaspoon's amount of mince to roll each ball. If there are children around, so much the better; they tend to like making these. But otherwise, they're easy enough, and the slow repetitiveness of the action can be rather calming.

for the meatballs:

250g minced pork
250g minced beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons semolina or breadcrumbs
good grind of black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Just put everything in a large bowl and then, using your hands, mix to combine before shaping into small balls. Place the meatballs on baking sheets or plates that you have lined with clingfilm, and put each in the fridge as you finish them.

For the tomato sauce:

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra-virgin)
700g bottle tomato passata
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper
100ml full-fat milk

Place the onion, garlic and oregano into the processor and blitz to a pulp. Heat the butter and oil in a deep, wide pan, then scrape the onion-garlic mix into it and cook over low to medium heat for about 10 minutes. Don't let the mixture catch, just let it become soft. Add the bottle of passata and then half-fill the empty bottle with cold water. Add this to the pan with a pinch of sugar and some salt and pepper, and cook for about 10 minutes. The tomato sauce will appear thin at this stage, but don't worry as it will thicken a little later. Stir in the milk, and then drop the meatballs in one by one. Don't stir the pan until the meatballs have turned from pink to brown as you don't want to break them up. Cook everything for about 20 minutes, with the lid only partially covering it. At the end of cooking time, check the seasoning, as you may want more salt and a grind or two more of pepper.

Makes enough to sauce generously the pasta below (see book), serving 6.

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