meatballs in tomato sauce

meatballs are one of those things i buy at the supermarket and think i should really make at home. so we finally did. the kids loved making and eating them. 

my one big mistake was getting started late on this meal and attempting to involve two very hungry toddlers - they were desperate to eat anything in front of them - which happened to be raw meat and eggs! mmm.

i ended up shouting and alarming both of them at various points - making my 2 year old cry in fact - 'uggh this is all going horribly wrong, getting very late and not why i involve my kids in the cooking!' 

and then it got better. I gave little Miss M some raw veggies and a blunt(ish) knife to keep her happy while Mr Z and i went to work on the meatballs - him promising not to eat any more of the raw mix!

1. put 4 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan with pinch of salt 

plus 3 pints/1.5L of tomato puree 

Kiddies loved squeezing out an entire tube of tomato puree and watching the cool shapes of the swirling oil in the tomato mix

2. Cook the tomato sauce over low heat while you make the meatballs, stirring occasionally

3. grate 125g/4oz parmesan cheese and 1 small loaf of crusty white bread

4. Add 500g/1lb of lean minced beef plus 3 eggs to the grated bread & cheese - mix it all together

5. Add a little salt & pepper and a ladlefull of the tomato sauce and give a good mix

6. the best bit - shape the squishy mixture in to nice round plum-sized meat balls. 

Little Mr Z said he wanted to make "the biggest meat ball in the world ever!"

7. Using a big spoon, put the meatballs carefully in to the tomato mixture and simmer for 30mins

8. Serve on spaghetti (although my kids loved the meatballs so much they didn't want to eat any spaghetti. The meatballs have bread and eggs mixed in so they are nice & filling)

You could add red peppers, beans or peas to the mix or serve courgette on the side.