Meatball Monday!

Meatball Monday!

I don't eat a huge amount of meat, swapping it for fish, seafood, vegetables or grains. However, 5% fat - lean beef - is one of my regular supermarket stables: Mexican chilli, homemade beefburgers, bolognese, or, yep - meatballs! I like to work with what I have in the pantry & the fridge; a bunch of sage leaves was leftover from the weekend. A quick google, & I discovered that there were some Spanish recipes which play around with beef & sage. Ergo, the sage was plucked from its stalks, finely trimmed, & found its way into this evening's meal! I created a sweet, caramelised balsamic glaze to compliment a piquant cherry tomato sauce, on which rested 4 lovely meatballs. Enjoy.

Serves 2. Created by me.

Recipe:

~ 400 g lean beef

~ 1/3 an onion (white), grated

~ 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

~ 1 tbsp chopped chilli pepper

~ sea salt & black pepper

~ 1 tbsp dried rosemary

~ 1 egg white

for the tomato sauce:

~ 20 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped

~ 4 tbsp tomato puree

~ sea salt & black pepper

~ lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon

~ 1 tbsp brown sugar

~ about 10 tbsp cold water

~ 1 tsp pureed garlic

for the glaze:

~ 5 tbsp balsamic vinegar

~ 1 tbsp brown sugar

~ 2 tbsp chopped walnuts

~ 4 sage leaves, finely chopped

1. Pre-heat the oven to a medium heat.

2. Mix together all the ingredients for the meatballs, & then mould into decently sized patties. Lay on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper & bake for 25 mins, rotating the tray halfway through cooking time.

3. Empty the tomato sauce ingredients into a saucepan & simmer over a low heat for about 20 mins, until the meatballs are done. If the sauce reduces too quickly, add a little more water plus tomato puree.

4. Prepare the glaze 5 minutes before serving. Heat the balsamic & sugar on a low heat until it caramelises, this should happen fairly quickly. Add the walnuts & sage to the pan so that the sage can lightly crisp.

5. Serve the meatballs in a shallow dish, resting on the tomato sauce, & drizzled with the balsamic & walnut glaze.

{all photos by me}