Description
These Fettuccine Meatballs in Tomato Sauce are the kind of supper that fills the kitchen with the best smells before anyone’s even at the table. The meatballs stay juicy, the sauce turns rich and savoury, and that buttery parsley fettuccine pulls everything together beautifully.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Fettuccine
- Fettuccine according to family size
- 2 tbsp butter
- Fresh parsley, chopped
Meatballs
- 1.65 lb - 750 g beef mince
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1 small red pepper, grated
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 slices of bread, crusts removed
- Milk for soaking bread
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Sauce
Instructions
Meatballs
- Preheat your oven to 340⁰F (170⁰C).
- Line a baking tray with foil and lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, add the 750 g beef mince, 1 grated small onion, 1 grated small red pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp black pepper.
- Soak the 2 slices of bread in a little milk for a minute or two, then squeeze out most of the excess milk with your hands.
- Add the soaked bread to the mince mixture along with the 1 egg, 3 tbsp parmesan cheese, 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint, 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme, and 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander.
- Mix gently with your hands until just combined. Don’t overmix or the meatballs can turn dense.
- If the mixture feels too wet to roll, refrigerate it for 10 minutes first.
- Roll into medium-sized meatballs and place them on the prepared tray.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until lightly browned and roughly 70% cooked through. They’ll finish cooking in the sauce later, so don’t leave them in the oven too long or they’ll dry out.
Sauce
- While the meatballs bake, heat enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of a medium saucepan or wok.
- Add the 1 chopped onion and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the 2 tsp chopped garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the can of chopped tomatoes, 1/2 bottle tomato and basil pasta sauce, 1/4 bottle tomato passata, salt to taste, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp Italian herbs, and 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce.
- Bring the sauce to a gentle boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low.
- Let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes so the flavours settle together properly.
- Add the partially cooked meatballs to the sauce and simmer uncovered for another 15 to 20 minutes until the meatballs are fully cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly. Stir gently now and then so the meatballs don’t break apart.
- Taste the sauce before serving. Depending on your tomatoes, you might want another pinch of salt or even a tiny extra sprinkle of sugar.
Fettuccine
- Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions until just al dente.
- Drain well, but do not rinse.
- Add the 2 tbsp butter straight onto the hot pasta along with the chopped fresh parsley and toss gently until glossy.
- Serve the buttery fettuccine topped with the meatballs and plenty of sauce.
- A little extra parmesan on top never hurts.
Notes
Created, prepared, tried, and tested by Melanie
