Italian meatballs

YOU WILL NEED

200g stale bread 250g minced beef 250g minced pork Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 50g pecorino or Parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra for serving Sea salt 100g plain flour

10 tbsp sunflower or olive oil 400g tin of tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

■ Remove the crust of the bread and crumble into a bowl to form breadcrumbs. Into the same bowl, add the minced beef and pork, parsley, half the chopped garlic and grated cheese. Add a pinch of sea salt and mix well to combine.

■ Using your hands, form the mixture into 20 meatballs (polpette). Put the flour onto a plate and gently roll the meatballs to coat them in flour.

■ Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Once hot, carefully place the meatballs in the oil and fry for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Remove the meatballs and place in an ovenproof dish.

■ Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Drain the excess oil from the frying pan, leaving 1 tbsp in the pan. Fry the remaining half of the garlic with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

■ Add the infused tomatoes to the meatballs, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

■ Serve the tomato sauce and meatballs on freshly cooked spaghetti and grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese to taste.

Recipe and image courtesy of Strazzanti, strazzanti.co