Cafe Lula

Meatballs have always been one of our favourite meals (doesn’t everyone love meatballs?), and I’ve made lots of different versions. Plain beef, turkey and mozzarella, pork and mushroom. All sorts! I’m not even sure which are my favourites. But these are Chris’s current favourites and are often requested when I ask him what he wants for tea.

I usually puree the shallots with a handheld blender, but I do also like the method given here of frying them gently before adding to the mince. You can use either of these methods, or just chop them and add them to the mince raw.

When I came to cook these I realised I only had two shallots left. Usually I would use two shallots for the meatballs and one for the sauce. I decided to still use two for the shallots and just use the oil the shallots are fried in for the sauce, and I think this was one of the best meatball sauces I’ve made.

P.S. If anyone has any meatball recipe suggestions please share them!

Turkey and anchovy meatballs with spaghetti

Adapted from the August 2010 issue of delicious magazine

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 shallots, finely chopped

olive oil, for frying

250g turkey mince

4 anchovy fillets, chopped

1 tsp flour

a few fresh basil leaves, shredded

3 garlic cloves

a few slices of red jalapeno, chopped (I used Discovery ones from a jar)

1 courgette (optional)

250g passata

salt and black pepper

150g spaghetti

Put the turkey mince, anchovies and basil leaves in a bowl and season with some black pepper. In a wok, heat a little oil and gently fry the shallots for 5 minutes until softened. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon (but don’t wash the wok) and add to the meatball mixture.  Crush in two of the garlic cloves and mix with a fork. Add the flour and mix again. Roll small handfuls of the mixture with your hands into walnut-sized balls.

Fry the meatballs in the wok with the shallot-oil for about 6 minutes, turning every 2 minutes. Remove the meatballs from the wok and put them on a plate. Wipe the wok with some kitchen paper to remove any burnt pieces of shallot, then return to the heat and add a little more oil. Gently fry the jalapenos and remaining garlic cloves for a minute, then add the courgette and fry for another minute or so. Add the passata and season with salt and black pepper. Once the sauce has heated through, add the meatballs and allow the sauce to simmer gently while you cook the spaghetti.

Once the spaghetti has cooked, drain it and toss together with the sauce. Serve with some parmesan.