Meatballs Marinara Recipe

My kids love meatballs for dinner. They beg me for this dish at least once a week. If I make meatballs and leave the kitchen I have to make sure to hide them from the boys. They have been known to sneak into the kitchen and eat them straight from the slow cooker when I’m not looking. Indeed, they’ve also been known to eat them early in the morning in the interests of breakfast. One of their favourite cartoons is still ‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs”. This recipe is definitely made for the meatball fans.

For ease of preparation I use a food processor here. It just makes life a little easier for me, but you can of course chop the vegetables by hand or use a box grater.

This is enough to feed your family for 2 meals, if you can stop them from eating the meatballs when your back is turned…

The breadcrumbs both bulk up the meal but also give the meatballs a lighter texture than if you use just meat which I prefer.

Ingredients

100g breadcrumbs
50ml milk
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
300g turkey mince
Sunflower oil for frying
1 onion, peeled
2 carrots, peeled
1 pepper, core removed
500ml passata

Method

Combine the breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl. Let the breadcrumbs soak up the milk (it’ll take about 5 minutes). Once the crumbs have soaked up the milk add the garlic, salt and pepper, dried oregano, and turkey mince to the bowl. Mix all these ingredients together with your hands or a fork. Once mixed thoroughly portion the mixture into ping-pong ball sized meatballs. Use the sunflower oil to fry the meatballs in a non-stick pan until golden brown on the outside.

Once the meatballs are golden brown pop them into a slow cooker set to high, leave the frying pan on low. Close the lid.

Take a food processor and pulse the onion, carrots, and pepper using the general blade until everything is puree style. Cook the puree off in the still-hot frying pan. This will take about 10 minutes to reduce the astringency of the onion. Pour the puree into the slow cooker and add the passata. Stir well.

Cook the meatballs in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours, until you have an unctuous sauce. Season to taste before serving. I like to add torn leaves of fresh basil on top of the meatballs mixture and serve them with penne pasta.