Meatballs on Zucchini Noodles

with homemade tomato sauce

Mince dishes are a weeknight favourite at my place. It never gets boring because there are so many different things that you can make with mince. This recipe is my standard throw together meatballs in sauce recipe. It’s quick, delicious, and when served on zucchini it is also super healthy.

Serves 4 Prep time 15 mins Cooking time 30 mins

Sauce

1 onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 cm fresh ginger, crushed 1 tablespoon olive oil 400 gram can tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 handful of fresh basil leaves ½ teaspoon ground chilli powder Salt and pepper to taste

Meatballs

500 grams minced beef ½ onion, finely diced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 handfuls fresh basil, chopped ½ teaspoon chilli powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil

Noodles

3 large zucchini

To start, get the sauce under way. Dice the onion and crush the ginger and garlic. Heat a pan over a medium heat with the olive oil in it. Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil leaves, chilli powder and salt and pepper. Stir for a few minutes and combine all the ingredients, breaking down the tomato. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is simmering you can make the meatballs. Dice the onion and crush the garlic and place in a large bowl. Add the beef mince, chilli powder, chopped basil and salt. Mix all the ingredients together with your hands. Once combined, form the meatballs. They should be about 2cm in diameter. Heat a large pan over a medium heat with the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Brown the meatballs in the pan. After the sauce has been cooking for about 20 minutes, you can place the meatballs in the sauce and allow them to cook in the sauce for the final 10 minutes. While they are cooking, spiralise the zucchini noodles.

Place the noodles in the serving bowls and serve with the meatballs and sauce on top.