Baked Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with spaghetti

Chianti Baked Meatballs Recipe

50 Minutes
Serves: 2
Beefy meat balls flavoured with parmesan, olive, paprika, fresh chilli and fresh parsley. The beef meatballs are oven baked in a Chianti, basil and tomato sauce. These delicious meatballs are served with spaghetti and crusty garlic bread.

Recipe Ingreds

Bread

  • 1 stick garlic bread

meat balls

  • 30 grams black olives
  • black pepper (to taste)
  • 0.5 whole fresh chilli
  • 2 sprig fresh parsley
  • 1 cloves garlic
  • 0.5 whole onions
  • 0.5 tsp paprika
  • 15 grams parmesan or pecorino cheese
  • salt (to taste)
  • 1 slices brown bread
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 whole egg
  • 250 grams mince beef

Pasta

  • 150 grams spaghetti

Sauce

  • black pepper (to taste)
  • 100 grams cherry tomatoes
  • 3 sprig fresh basil
  • 125 ml Chianti red wine
  • salt (to taste)
  • 2 grams granulated sugar
  • 1 tin tinned tomatoes

Recipe with pictures Steps

Step 1

  • finely grate the parmesan
  • chop the olives
  • peel and crush the garlic
  • peel and chop the onion(s) finely
  • add the ingredients to a bowl

Step 2

  • using a food processor blend the bread into fresh breadcrumbs
  • blend until the contents forms a crumb
  • empty the contents of the food processor into a the olive and parmesan bowl
  • add the mince beef
  • add the paprika
  • stir to mix the ingredients
  • set the oven to 220C 425F or gas mark 7

Step 3

  • wash and finely chop the chilli
  • wash and finely chop the fresh parsley
  • add to the meatball mixture

Step 4

  • place the egg(s) in a small bowl
  • beat the egg
  • add the egg to the meatball mixture
  • stir to mix the ingredients
  • season with salt and pepper

Step 5

  • take a large spoonful of the mixture and with damp hands shape the mixture into a meatball
  • repeat until all the mixture has been formed into "meatballs"
  • place a drop of oil in the oven proof dish
  • lightly toss the meatballs in the olive oil
  • place in the oven
  • cook for 10 mins

Step 6

  • wash the cherry tomatoes and then slice in half
  • remove the meatballs from the oven
  • add the cherry tomatoes
  • add the wine
  • place in the oven
  • cook for 10 mins

Step 7

  • remove the meatballs from the oven
  • add the tinned tomatoes
  • add the sugar
  • wash and tear the basil leaves add to the sauce
  • season with salt and pepper
  • place in the oven
  • cook for 15 mins to 20 mins

Step 8

  • half fill a pan with water and boil
  • add a spot of olive oil and a pinch of salt to the boiling water
  • add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until tender but with a slight bite

Step 9

  • about 10 minutes before the meatballs are ready
  • put the garlic bread on the baking tray and place in the oven follow cooking instructions on packaging

Step 10

  • drain the pasta reserve a few tbsps of cooking liquid
  • remove meatballs from the oven
  • taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary
  • if the sauce is a bit thick add the reserved pasta water, just enough for the correct consistency

Step 11

  • divide the pasta between the serving plates

Step 12

  • place 3 to 5 meatballs on each plate and share the sauce between the serving dishes
  • if cooking extra meatballs for the freezer store the extra meatballs and sauce in a freezer container allow to cool and then freeze

Step 13

  • remove garlic bread from the oven
  • serve the pasta with garlic bread

Recipe Utensils

  • 1 baking tray
  • 2 chopping board
  • 1 cling film
  • 1 food processor
  • 1 Garlic crusher
  • 1 grater
  • 2 large bowl
  • 2 large knife
  • 1 large pan
  • 1 oven proof dish
  • 1 sieve
  • 1 small bowl
More recipes you might like: Around the World, Freezer Friendly, Beef Dinner Ideas, Cheap dinner Ideas

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About our Chianti meatballs

This recipe is from one of our favourite chefs Jo Pratt from her book "in The Mood for food", we tweaked this recipe slightly by adding fresh cherry tomatoes to the sauce. 

Exactly where meatballs originate from is not clear, there are early recipes found in Arabia, China and Rome for meatballs that resemble the meatballs we make today.

Our tasty meatballs are made from a combination of minced beef and breadcrumbs. The meatball mixture is combined with chopped olives, grated parmesan, paprika, chopped fresh chilli & parsley. The beef meatballs are cooked in the oven in a tomato sauce made from tinned tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Chianti wine, and basil. These delicious meatballs are served on spaghetti with garlic bread. 

Meatball from around the world

Albanian meatballs are made with feta cheese and are fried

Belgium, Bulgaria and Italy use a mix of pork and beef for their meatballs and flavour them with traditional country herbs and spices

In Greece, meatballs are known as keftédes and include breadcrumbs, onions, parsley and mint. 

Meatballs are eaten all over the world all with slightly different regional changes, common accompaniments for meatballs are pasta, rice and mashed potatoes.  

Other beef pasta dishes

Beef Lasagne & Mixed Salad

Spaghetti Bolognese

Succulent Crispy Chilli Beef with Egg Noodles



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