Mozzarella Meatballs
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- More effort
- Serves 6
Ingredients
For the Rich Tomato Sauce:
- 2-3 tbsps olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 300g mushrooms, thinly sliced (close cup or button mushrooms)
- 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
- 1 large splodge of tomato puree
- 1/2 glass of red wine
- 1 chicken oxo cube
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 tbsps mixed herbs (such as dried sage, oregano, thyme)
For the Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs:
- 1/2 glass of red wine
- 3-4 slices of bread (white bread is best but you can use any)
- 1.5lbs minced meat (use any meat, I used 1/2 pork, 1/2 beef)
- 1 tbsp mixed herbs (dried sage, oregano and thyme)
- 1 dsp parmesan cheese
- black pepper to taste
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g mozzarella, cubed so there's 1 cube per meatball
- 2-3 tbsps olive oil
Method
- STEP 1For the tomato sauce heat the oil in a decent sized saucepan. When the oil is hot enough add the onion, pepper and garlic. Stir this mixture and cook for a few minutes on a medium heat till it has all softened and the onions are almost see-through. Then add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes more.
- STEP 2Now add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs, salt & pepper, wine and oxo cube. Don't worry about pour the wine in after the tinned tommatoes as there is no need to bubble off the alcohol in a dry pan as simmering the sauce later will do this anyway.
- STEP 3Bring the sauce to the boil and then simmer for 1/2 an hour to an hour. Keep the lid off of the pan till the sauce as thickened up enough for you, when you can then put the lid back on. If the sauce is too dry at any point add some water. Stir occasionally to check that the sauce isn't sticking to the pan and that it isn't too dry.
- STEP 4For the meatballs, soak the breadcrumbs in the wine for 5 minutes. While this is happening use the time to check the sauce and preheat the oven to 125C (in a non fan assisted oven)
- STEP 5Add to the breadcrumbs the minced meat, mixed herbs, parmesan, pepper and egg. Mix this all up with your hands.
- STEP 6Split this meat mixture into 30 - 40 meatballs roughly. With each meatball flatten it out roughly in one hand, add a cube of mozzarella and shape the meatball so that the mozzarella is sealed inside each one.
- STEP 7When the meatballs are all rounded, heat the oil in a frying pan to brown and seal the meatballs in batches. When browned, add the meatballs to an oven dish.
- STEP 8Put the meatballs in the oven for 25-30 minutes, and mix them around 1/2 way through so that they all cook evenly.
- STEP 9When you take them out, cut a fat one open just to check that they are cooked all the way through. If not quite completely cooked pop back in the oven for 5 more minutes.
- STEP 10Serve this with spaghetti. You can either stir the pasta, sauce and meatballs all together and serve, or you can add the sauce to the meatballs in the oven dish, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 5 minutes more, till the cheese has melted. Be aware that the quantity of meatballs for this recipe will serve more people than the sauce will, so you can put any leftover meatballs in the fridge for another day :)
