Recipe: Meatballs for everyone - even fusspots.

I made this recipe from a suggestion on a recipe card by Sainsbury's. It didn't mention amounts so I just made it up - it seemed to work okay!

Ingredients:
Minced beef - I think the recipe card (I had cut the suggestion out) was aimed at 500g packets but we had around 350g for three people and it was enough
1 egg
1-2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1-2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Olive oil, for frying
1 tsp garlic from a 'Fresh Herbs' tube (or squish your own)
Salt & pepper

1 tin chopped tomatoes
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp sugar

Method:
First mix all the beef together with the basil & first lot of parsley and the egg. Then separate enough for one person (or however many won't eat garlic & seasoning) into another bowl & set aside. Add the garlic and seasoning to the remaining bowl. Make meatballs out of both mixtures, keeping them separate.

Heat oil in frying pan and fry the seasoning-free meatballs first. Set aside. Then repeat with the others. I cooked until they were nearly done - we don't mind a bit of pink beef and they get cooked again later in the sauce.

To make the sauce, tip the can of tomatoes into the frying pan used for the meatballs (without cleaning it - unless you have a serious garlic/seasoning allergy then this should be okay and will add a little bit of flavour to the sauce). Add the sugar and the remaining parsley. Heat for a few minutes and stir thoroughly. Tip into a blender and pulverise.

When you want to eat, put the meatballs (all of them) back into the frying pan. I distinguished Dad's from ours by sticking a cocktail stick in each one. Pour the sauce over the top and heat everything together thoroughly whilst you cook some pasta. Serve.