Meatballs and Spaghetti Dish

Such a great meatballs and spaghetti dish that the whole family will enjoy.

What ya need!

500g minced beef

8 beef sausages

1 egg

1 tbsp tuscan spice blend

panko breadcrumbs

1 tbs cooking oil (I use Macadamia oil)

1 onion, chopped

1 tbs garlic granules

1 chicken oxo cube crumbled

500ml passata

1 tin 400g diced tomatoes

300g dried spaghetti

grated cheese to serve

What ya do!

• Chuck ya mince in a bowl.

• Add ya sausage, egg, Tuscan spice and panko breadcrumbs.

• Squish ingredients together with your hands.

• Put 1 tbs of oil in a frying pan and heat for 30 seconds on medium on the stove.

• Roll mince into balls (the size of a tablespoon).

• Add balls to the frying pan on medium heat on the stove till browned.

• Add 1 tbsp to a separate deeper pan and heat for 30 seconds on medium on the stove.

• Add onion and garlic till onion softened.

• Add the meatballs to onions.

• Crumble the oxo into the pan and add passata and tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.

• Cook spaghetti as per pkt instructions.

• Drain the pasta and add to the meatballs.

• Stir through.

• Serve with grated cheese.

  
  

Mrs Shelley's antics!

Hhhiiiyyyaaa!!!

Ooooh this meatballs and spaghetti dish is a fave in our household. A staple carb dish.

I saved money with this dish because I bought 1kg of mince instead of 500g. It was cheaper to buy it this way and just make another minced meat dish in the week.

Yes you throw the sausages in the bowl whole. I know that some sausages have casings on but I buy cheaper sausages and they squish really easy. You do not need to remove it from the casing.

I hope you love the egg trick. I go to a lot of trouble for you guys. I love throwing the egg up and seeing if I can get it stuck on the knife. Oh the little things that make me happy.

I tell you what I do not like though is getting my hands in a bowl of meat and squishing it together. It feels absolutely awful. I can't think of a better way to do it. Well, I can but I would have had to get my mixer out and I can't be bothered.

My favourite oil is Macadamia oil by Fancy Farmer. It is a much healthier oil than what I was using. It's a wonder my cholesterol was not raised.

My little sausage dogs were waiting patiently beneath my feet hoping I would drop something. They know I always do. If not by accident, it might be on purpose.

A vital part of cooking is presenting the stove. Do a little bob or a curtsy. That thing works hard to cook our meals. You may think I am strange. I think I am, but if it makes me happy, leave me alone.

The easiest utensil I use to make my meatballs is an icecream scoop. It gives me the perfect sized meatball every time. Of course I wash it thoroughly before the kids use it to serve up their icecream.

My pan is never big enough to cook all the meatballs at once so I had to batch cook which does my head in. It takes longer and today I did not have the patience.

I loved putting the onion up to my ears pretending I have earrings. One day I should bring a food earring line out.

I am still in my dry garlic granule era. I am not buying fresh. Fresh tastes better but garlic granules are much cheaper and covers a lot more meals.

It took me 50 years to learn to crumble the oxo in the foil. Why didn't nobody tell me sooner? I think it is quite rude that.

Whenever I use passata or tinned tomatoes, I'm going straight for the cheapest brand. Honestly, it still tastes yum and them extra pennies that you save can go towards a holiday.

People ask me why I take the label off the tin cans. We are a serious recycling family.

For this dish, I ran out of spaghetti so I just chucked the rest of my fettucine pasta in. I only had about 100g. It wasn't enough but I made it do. I served it just right so everyone thought they had plenty. If they thought it was a problem they know they can come to me but they would feel the wrath of my tongue.

Ooohhhh how I hate grating cheese but when I buy it in packets, it's not the same so I can't be compromising on this.

This dish was delightful. It was very tasty, easy and filled all our bellies up for the night. There was leftovers too. Will you stop it.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. My social media accounts are on my website if you want to see how I make it and watch all the antics I get up to.

Love Mrs Shelley.