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Spaghetti & meatballs

Looking for a really easy way to get the kids to eat more veg? This is a great dish which kids love helping to make and eat! Recommended by a customer who found it on the BBC Good Food site.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

  • 300 g good quality free range pork sausage - approx 4 large links
  • 500 g lean beef mince
  • 1 carrot - finely grated
  • 1 small onion - coarsely grated
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 50 g parmesan (extra to serve) - finely grated
  • 1 medium egg
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

For the tomato sauce:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 courgette - coarsely grated
  • 3 garlic cloves - finely grated
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • pinch caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tins (400g) chopped tomato

To serve:

  • cooked spaghetti

Instructions

  • Children: Squeeze all the sausage meat out of the sausage skins into a large bowl and add the mince. Tip all the rest of the meatball ingredients, except the olive oil, into the bowl and season with black pepper then squish everything together through your hands until completely mixed. (Make sure any younger children don’t taste any of the raw mixture!).
  • Children: Roll the meatball mix into walnut-sized balls and place them on a plate – this is a job children as young as 2 can help with and a great job to help teach older children basic division.
  • Grown ups: While the children are rolling the meatballs make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the courgette and garlic and cook for 5 mins until soft and mushy. Stir in the tomato puree, sugar and vinegar leave for 1 min then tip in the tomatoes and simmer for 5 mins. If your children like courgettes then you can leave the sauce chunky. But if they hate them blitz the sauce with a hand blender – either way continue to simmer sauce gently while you cook the meatballs. If your child is confident with heat, from 7+ they can cook the sauce with supervision.
  • Grown ups: Heat the oil in a large frying pan and, working in batches, brown the meatballs on all sides then pop them into the sauce – continue to simmer the sauce for 15 mins, stirring very gently until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with cooked spaghetti, extra grated Parmesan and a few torn basil leaves your child has picked and torn.

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