The Mighty Meatball Spagetti Dinner

My husbands favourite trick is to mark the recipes he would love to eat in each of the celebrity chef cookbooks with his initials…having made one, a special meat pasta, I was really disappointed with the taste or lack of it and the next night presented these meatballs…his initials have been crossed out on that page now!!! The rosemary gives the sauce a really fresh fragrant taste and the meatballs have that lovely background from the Italian sausage.

For 4 people
Ingredients
Enough pasta (we use spaghetti or fettucine) for 4 people (depends how big your appetites are!!!)

For the meatballs

• 1/2lb minced sirloin
• ¼ lb hot Italian bulk sausage
• ¼ lb mild Italian bulk sausage
• Buy sausages and split skins if you can’t get bulk
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons basil leaves chopped
• 1 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• ½ large red onion finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 5 tablespoon All purpose Flour
• 1 egg

For the sauce

• ½ large red onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
• 1 16oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 large fresh tomatoes skinned and chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
• ½ cup red wine
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Steak Sauce (I use A1)

1. Combine all but 4 tablespoons of the flour and the oil for the meatballs in a large bowl. Use your hands to combine all the ingredients.

2. From the mixture take small sections and use remaining flour to help shape into meatballs. Set aside until all meatball formed.

3. Heat the Olive Oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Gently fry the meatballs until gently browned on both sides..you don’t need to fully cook they will finish in the sauce.

4. Reserve the meatballs to one side once browned.

5. In the same pan start the sauce. Add the oil and when hot add onion, carrot and celery and cook for about 5 mins (until carrot is soft).

6. Add the garlic, fresh tomatoes. Cook down for a few minutes until the tomatoes have broken down.

7. Add the crushed tomatoes, dried herbs, ½ rosemary, basil, red wine and steak sauce.

8. Turn heat down to low, cover and cook for about 20 mins.
9. Add back meatballs and any juices, cover each one with sauce and cook for another 20 mins

10. Add the heavy cream and reserved rosemary and cook for 5 mins. Cover and turn off heat
11. Cook the Spaghetti to taste ( I like al dente ) and drain

12. Take a few spoons of the sauce and mix through the cooked spaghetti. Turn onto serving platter. Cover with the rest of the meatballs and sauce and serve.

If you are really hungry serve with my Garlic, Garlic, Garlic Bread!

Enjoy!

Clare's Super Beef Stew

My friend and her daughter arrive in Florida this week and I'm trying to get food cooked so that I can enjoy being with them rather than spend all the time in the kitchen. This Sunday we will be having this delicious beef stew which is a hybrid of my mothers recipe, homemade yorkshire puddings and veggies...yummy. PS..I'll add some pics on Sunday ;-)

Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 10mins prep, 2 1/2  hrs cooking

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs lean stewing beef
• 1 large yellow onion medium diced
• 3 sticks of celery sliced at a diagonal in 2 " pieces
• 3 large carrots sliced at a diagonal in 2 " pieces
• 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
• 3 medium potatoes peeled and sliced in 1/4 thickness ( you can add more if you are not going to serve potatoes with your meal)
• 1/4 cup thyme leaves
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups beef stock, low sodium
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard (I used Grey Poupon)
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and ground pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

You will need a casserole dish that you can fry in then transfer to the oven, or a frying pan with a casserole dish. I use a Le Crueset casserole

1. Set oven at 300 F ( 150 C)
2. Cut meat into 2" pieces
3. Season well with salt and pepper
4. Coat the meat with the flour and shake off excess
5. Heat one tablespoon of oil at a medium hot heat.
6. Brown the meat on both sides, you are looking for a nice crust, don't cook through and don't crown pan as the meat wont brown. Once all meat done remove from casserole and turn heat down to medium.
7. Add rest of oil, heat and then add onion, celery, carrot, thyme. As you stir remember to scrape all the good bits off the bottom of the pan
8. When the onions have started to soften add the meat back to the casserole, then add the wine, stock, mustard and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, stir well and then cover with lid or foil and put in oven.
9. Cook for 2 hrs and then shut off oven and leave to cool down if you are going to eat another day. If not you can thicken if required with some corn starch (flour) and a little water - it depends how thick you want your stew.

We're having with Yorkshire Puddings, Roast Potatoes and Vegetables and all I have to do is take the stew out if the freezer now and heat up! Hurrah!

Enjoy!

Jamie Oliver's Oven Baked Spaghetti Bolognese

I normally make my own spaghetti bolognese, however my friend Anne (pictured left) has been banging on about me making Jamie Oliver's Oven Baked Spaghetti Bolognese after a successful attempt in Spetember. So I'm going to...my husband has a love affair with pasta anyway and I think my spaghetti is his favourite meal...I'm guessing that Jamie Oliver should be better than me!

Anyway I'm back to the house tomorrow morning so I'll be leaving this as a surprise for my husbands Friday night supper. If he doesn't like it Anne, I blame you ( and you are not allowed back in Florida ;-) ).


Ingredients

• 10 slices of pancetta or smoked streaky bacon rashers, sliced
• 1 handful rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
• olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pound chuck steak, minced, or best minced beef
• 1 wineglass of red wine
• 1 level teaspoon dried oregano
• 14 ounce tin of tomatoes
• 7 ounce tube of tomato puree or 1 small jar sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound dried spaghetti
• 1 handful of fresh basil
• 2 handfuls of grated Parmesan or strong Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2.  In a large hot pan that can go in the oven, fry the pancetta and rosemary in a little olive oil until lightly golden.
3. Then add the onion and garlic and fry for a further 3 minutes, until softened, before adding the minced beef.
4. Stir and continue frying for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the wine.
5. Reduce slightly, then add the oregano, all the tomatoes, and the tomato puree.
6. Season well to taste, bring to the boil, cover with greaseproof paper or a lid, and place in the preheated oven for an hour and a half.
7. Towards the end of the cooking time, put your spaghetti into a large pot of fast-boiling salted water until al dente (check the packet for cooking time).
8. When it's cooked, drain it in a colander.
9. Just before serving, add some ripped-up fresh basil to the sauce.
10. Serve with your spaghetti and some grated Parmesan or strong Cheddar.

Thanks Jamie, I'll let you know what he thinks..!

Enjoy!