This easy meatballs recipe is by Brian McDermott from the Donegal Table Cookbook.
Please, please, don’t buy pre-made meatballs – honestly, they only take minutes to make at home and it can be lots of fun if you involve everyone in the process. And don’t even think about buying ready-made sauce either! This recipe has everything you need to make your own incredible meatballs.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Sauce
– Drizzle of rapeseed oil
– 1 onion, diced
– 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
– 1 tsp dried oregano
– 400g tinned, chopped tomatoes
– 50g tomato puree
– 500ml beef stock
Meatballs
– Drizzle of rapeseed oil
– 1 onion, diced
– 1 clove of garlic, chopped
– 250g minced beef
– 250g minced pork
– 1 egg
– 40 g breadcrumbs
– ½ tsp ground nutmeg
– Freshly ground black pepper
– 5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
To serve
– 400g spaghetti
– 80g Parmesan cheese, for grating
Method:
1. To make the sauce, heat a drizzle of oil in a saucepan and sweat the onion with the garlic for 3 minutes. Add the oregano, tomatoes and tomato puree. Add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. For the meatballs, fry the diced onion and garlic in the oil in a heated frying pan. Add these to a bowl with the minced beef and pork.
3. Combine using your hands and then add the egg and breadcrumbs and season with nutmeg and pepper. Mix well, then add the chopped sage leaves and shape into desired meatball size.
4. In the same frying pan you cooked the onions in, brown the meatballs then transfer them into the sauce. Simmer together for 12 minutes, stirring gently to ensure the meatballs don’t break.
5. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water according to the packet instructions and then drain. Serve in a bowl with meatballs and sauce on top and some grated Parmesan cheese.
Brian McDermott has built a national reputation as a chef on one simple belief – that tasty, healthy food based around traditional recipes and local produce is something every family can make and enjoy.
Every family can enjoy this collection of achievable, affordable and accessible recipes celebrating the best of Donegal’s warmth and traditions.
Whether it’s cooking freshly-caught mussels for the fishermen at Greencastle pier or sharing his skills with others at his cookery school, Brian loves to celebrate the best of his home county’s warmth and traditions.
Brian McDermott Brian McDermott