Instructions
Smokey you say? Yep, something slightly different to your normal meatballs!
Serves 2.
Start with the sauce.
- Start by finely chopping approx 2/3 the onion. Place in a pan with a knob of butter on a very low heat.
- Finely chop the sweet pepper, add to the onions. Give it all a good stir.
- Dry fry a glove or 2 of garlic. When the skin has browned, take of the heat, remove skin and mash it up with a fork or the back of a spoon. Add to onions and peppers. Give it another good stir. You want to make it sweat without actually cooking it.
- Crush half the stock cube into the pan, stir.
- Add the tinned chopped tomato's.
- Season with black pepper. Stir.
- Chuck in a few glugs of Worcestershire Sauce (Lee & Perrins) and a generous glug of red wine (approx half a glass). Stir.
- Chop the parsley and chilli as fine as possible. Add to the pan. Stir.
- Add little amount of cream and stir. Keep doing this until you are happy with the consistency of the sauce.
- Once it has settled and started to simmer, finely chop a single pepperami. Be careful - "its a bit of an animal!". Add to the pan. Stir, cover and let simmer very very gently. This is where your smokey flavour will come from.
Meatballs;
- Gently fry your meatballs. They wont need to be cooked all the way through.
- Chuck on a little black pepper for good measure!
Note: I have deliberately left out how to make meatballs as you can do this to your own taste.
- Once the meatballs are sealed, move them onto your prep surface to rest for a bit so any excess fat can get out.
- Start to preheat your oven to 200c.
- Add the meatballs to an oven proof dish, pour the souce over the top making sure they are covered. Pop in the oven.
Now start on the pasta;
- After filling your pan/pot with water, add some salt and a glug of olive oil.
- When the water is boiling - cook the pasta as normal.
- Pop a pasta bowl or plates in the oven.
- Chop the fresh basil as finely as possible.
- Drain the pasta.
- Add a glug of olive oil and the basil to the pasta.
- Stir well, cover and let rest.
Serve it;
- Get the meatballs and pasta bowl/plates out of the oven.
- Plate up - pasta then meatballs.
Enjoy.