7

Spaghetti and meatballsSERVES 6

Comfort food doesn’t get much better than spaghetti and meatballs enjoyed with

family and a glass of red. There’s plenty of room for variation with the meatballs

• mixing in pancetta or ricotta, say – but when time is short, simple is best. Buy
  the best dried pasta you can find and don’t be shy with the parmesan.

1 Mash bread mixture with

your hands in a large bowl. Add

beef and pork minces, garlic

and thyme, season well and mix

to combine. Roll half the mixture

into walnut-sized balls. Heat half

the oil in a large deep non-stick

frying pan over high heat and fry

meatballs, turning occasionally,

until golden (2-4 minutes).

Transfer to a plate. While the first

batch is cooking, roll remaining

mixture into balls, then, once

the first batch is cooked, fry with

remaining oil. Transfer to plate.

2 Add onion to pan, reduce

heat to medium and stir

occasionally until softened

(6-8 minutes). Deglaze pan with

wine, scraping base of pan, then

add passata. Increase heat to

high, season to taste and bring

to the boil. Add meatballs and

turn occasionally until cooked

through (2-3 minutes)

3 Meanwhile, cook spaghetti

in a large saucepan of boiling

salted water until al dente

(6-8 minutes). Drain, reserving

a little pasta water. Add the

pasta and reserved water to

meatball mixture, toss well to

combine and serve topped with

parmesan and a little extra oil.➤

40 gm soft white crustless

bread, soaked in 2 tbsp milk

400 gm minced beef

400 gm minced pork

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tsp coarsely chopped thyme

60 ml (½ cup) mild-flavoured

extra-virgin olive oil,

plus extra to serve

1 small onion, finely chopped

60 ml dry white wine

500 ml (2 cups) tomato passata

500 gm dried spaghetti

Finely grated parmesan,

to serve

Spaghetti and

meatballsPlate

from Country Road.

Stir-fried noodles

Bowl from Crave

Wares. Side plates

from Nikau.Parsnip

soupTray from The

Bay Tree. Side plate

from Country Road.

Glass from Robert

Burton. All other

props stylist’s own.

Stockists p168.

GOURMET TRAVELLER 61

Quick meals

PHOTOGRAPHY BEN DEARNLEY (SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS)