Meatballs with pesto mash

Meatballs with pesto mash

A rustic Italian-style family dinner, with herby mashed potatoes

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Freezable

Egg-free

Method

  1. Mix the mince with half the chopped basil, the Worcestershire sauce and some seasoning, then use your hands to shape into 16 meatballs. Heat a non-stick frying pan, add the oil, then fry the meatballs, turning, for 5 mins until browned. Tip in the passata and remaining chopped basil. Simmer gently for 10 mins until the meatballs are cooked through.
  2. Meanwhile, boil potatoes for 10-15 mins until tender. Drain well, then return to the saucepan over a low heat and mash - leaving the heat on will help to dry out the potatoes for a fluffier mash. Stir in the milk, then marble through the pesto. Pile the mash onto 4 plates, spoon over meatballs and serve scattered with the reserved basil.

PER SERVING

438 kcalories, protein 31g, carbohydrate 51g, fat 14 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 0g, sugar 7g, salt 0.96 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2008.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-32

  • 06 January 2011

    shep rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I used chopped and deseeded tomatoes to make up a sauce flavoured with basil and garlic plus chopped onions and added the passata...go easy on the Worcestershire sauce, don't over power the rest of the flavours. serve with 'toasted cheesy rolls' or garlic bread. make sure the potato is well mashed, serve in a dish rather than a plate to allow lots of sauce to be served...I serve this in my Cafe and it always a favourite!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 31 January 2011

    smileykt rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Tried this tonight - my first ever attempt at meatballs. Substituted beef mince for pork (simply because I don't like beef!), and I think next time I'll add some more herbs/seasoning to make them a bit more flavoursome. Also made my own sauce with chopped tomatoes, garlic, parsley, paprika and oregano which worked well, and the mash was fantastic!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo ELK

    13 April 2011

    ELK rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    AMAZING!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 10 October 2011

    mrs skins commented on this recipe

    I was not happy with this as I tried to do it as it said and my meat balls came apart a waste of my time :-(

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 18 November 2011

    seccles rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really easy to do. Cheated a little as we had a pack of meatball in the frezzer so used them instead of making them. A really lovely meal however I did add a little chilli to the meatball sauce as i found it a little boring. The mash was really yummy :-)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Zoe

    08 April 2012

    Zoe commented on this recipe

    I used the recipe just for the mash and got great compliments. They went very well with the meatballs though I used a Jamie Oliver recipe for the meatballs after reading comments from others saying that the ones in this recipe were a bit too dry. I will definitely use the pesto mash recipe again. So easy and really different and tasty.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 14 July 2012

    Monkadelic rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very nice indeed. Will definitely do again. Didn't have onion & garlic passata so sauteed half an onion and one clove of garlic before browning the meatballs. Other than that I simply quartered all the ingredients (was cooking just for me). No problem with the meatballs being dry. Not sure if this was down to slightly more meat used (quarter of my 500g pack), so slightly bigger meatballs, or the juice from the onion & garlic.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 03 October 2012

    Belkey rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I could not find onion and garlic passata either, so after browning my meatballs I took them out of the pan and sweated off half a red onion and some garlic puree before putting the meatballs back in and continuing. However, like others, I also found the meatballs a bit dry even though I had added an egg. The pesto mash was a big hit though!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 10 November 2012

    xNeevus commented on this recipe

    This is absolutely DELICIOUS. I made it the other night for me and my mum and we loved it, so much that we're having a dinner party tomorrow night and this is going to be the main course! :)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 10 November 2012

    xNeevus rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    forgot to rate it!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 16 January 2013

    MummyA commented on this recipe

    I came to this recipe via the gluten free page ... beware as I believe worcestershire sauce contains gluten ...

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 17 January 2013

    JulesTheNorweegie rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very good! I added an egg and some potatoflour to the meatball mixture, as I always remember my granny did that whenever she made her infamous meat patties with onion. Mmmm! I served it with pesto pasta instead, and here is my result: http://julesthenorweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/moreish-meatballs-with-pesto-pasta.html

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Freezable

Egg-free

Ingredients

  • 400g lean beef mince
  • small bunch basil , most leaves roughly chopped, reserving few whole to serve
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • half a 700g bottle passata with onions and garlic
  • 1kg potato , peeled and cut into small chunks
  • 150ml milk
  • 2 tbsp fresh basil pesto
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

PER SERVING

438 kcalories, protein 31g, carbohydrate 51g, fat 14 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 0g, sugar 7g, salt 0.96 g

Advertisement

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close