Sunny With A Chance Of Meatballs

Here at Cooking Mummies HQ we’ve been loving the recent hot weather – it has probably been the best summer we’ve had here in the UK in at least five years. That is not to say however that everything has been fun…

One of the things I hate having to do during the warmer months is cooking – or to be more precise – having my oven on. Probably not the best thing for a food blogger to admit, but it’s true! There are only so many ‘cold foods’ that I can stomach before I crave something hot, and if I’m going to boil alive in my tiny little kitchen I want something that is quick to prepare and will hopefully be on the table before I collapse from heat exhaustion…

These meatballs are so easy to put together, and the beauty of them is that you can adapt them to your own personal tastes; here I’ve used turkey mince as thats what I had in the fridge, but pork or beef would also work beautifully. Once you’ve made them yourself you’ll never touch the tinned kind ever again I promise 🙂 Match them with a nice bowl of spaghetti, some rice, or even a lovely refreshing salad – the possibilities are endless!

Homemade Meatballs

Prep time: 5mins

Cooking time: 30mins at 180c – though this will vary depending on how big/small you make your meatballs. You will need:

500g mince meat of your choosing – I’m using turkey here
One sachet of porridge oats: we always have the microwave sachets in our cupboard, but if you have loose oats I’d think a 1/2 cup would suffice. Some prefer to bind them with an egg but I find that oats help the balls keep their shape and retain moisture
A pinch of salt and pepper
One tbsp olive oil
A generous sprinkle of oregano (if using pork try rosemary)
Half a carton of passata: this will depend on how much sauce you like. I only used half a carton but if you like lots of sauce feel free to add more

Method

Preheat your oven
Be prepared to get your hands extremely mucky! In a mixing bowl add your mince, porridge oats, salt, pepper and oregano and squish altogether, making sure that the seasoning is evenly distributed (nobody wants a mouthful of pepper…) You can mix with a spoon but I find going in with your hands saves so much time
Take some of the mince mixture and start to roll them into balls in the palms of your hand. The size of them is completely up to you, I made small ones because they require less cooking time and they make your mince go a looooong way. Once you’ve rolled your meatballs set them aside on a plate
They should look something like this
Heat the oil in a frying pan, and place the meatballs in one by one. Don’t worry about letting them brown too much – we only want to seal the outside so they hold their shape
Notice how the mince starts to turn white as it begins to cook
Pour your passata into the frying pan, and feel free to add some more flavourings here. I added a touch more oregano and a pinch of pepper. Jiggle the pan gently so that the passata coats all of the meatballs
Remove the pan from the heat and put it into the oven to let the meatballs cook; you’ll want to stir the sauce and turn the meatballs occasionally, but personally I love letting the passata cook right down so that you get a lovely rich intense sauce
Yuuuuuummmmyyyyy!
Serve! I’ve chosen to have my meatballs with some lovely roasted veg – hearty food with a mediterranean twist! Try these with spaghetti for a meal just like Mama used to make