Anna's Family Kitchen was inspired by my love of food and desire to feed my family healthy, home cooked wholesome meals that are beautifully presented and appealing but don’t require hours of prep in the kitchen.
Oven Baked Meatballs
Meatballs are always a hit with children hence they feature regularly on the weekday menu in my house but these are not just any meatballs….they’re the bees knees. If I’m in a hurry (I normally seem to be!) I make the meatballs small and once they’re browned simply simmer them in tomato sauce. My tomato sauce recipe remains the same here but I’ve made the meatballs larger and oven baked them so they’re crisp on the outside, meltingly tender on the inside and the sauce becomes really rich. You could make the meatballs in advance or in a large batch then refrigerate or freeze them. You could also add mozzarella on top for the final 15 minutes.
Serves: 4
Prep: 15 minutes
Cooking: 40 minutes
Total: 55 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
INGREDIENTS
800g beef mince⠀
4 tbsp softened onion & garlic (taken from the tomato sauce prep)
1 tbsp dried oregano⠀
1 beaten egg
1 carrot grated
60g Panko breadcrumbs
25g grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp Maldon salt⠀
1/2 tsp Black pepper
For the tomato sauce:-
3 onions chopped⠀
3 garlic cloves crushed⠀
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 charred peppers chopped
800g chopped tomatoes
100ml red wine
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp Maldon salt⠀
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Soften the onion & garlic in a lug of oil for 10 mins. Remove 4 tbsp and allow to cool.
Add all the remaining ingredients for the tomato sauce to the softened onion/garlic and simmer for 20 minutes (see stories). Combine all the meatball ingredients in a bowl & using your hands make a dozen balls. Each should be slightly larger than a golf ball.
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Colour the meatballs in some oil in a pan for 5-10 mins.
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Nestle the meatballs into the tomato sauce, cover and bake at 200 (180 fan) for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes. You could top with mozzarella at this stage.
Serve with pasta or bread. ⠀
