Quick meatballs with cherry tomato sauce
Get dinner on the table in under half an hour with The Hairy Bikers' quick meatballs recipe. Using tinned cherry tomatoes gives the pasta sauce a fresh and sweet flavour.
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 200g/7oz beef mince
- ½ tsp thyme
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil, for frying
For the tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- pinch dried chilli flakes (or more if you like spicy food)
- 400g tin cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
- 5 basil leaves, shredded (optional)
To serve
- 200g/7oz fresh tagliatelle, cooked according to packet instructions
- freshly grated Parmesan
Method
For the meatballs, put all of the meatball ingredients, apart from the oil, in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then use your hands to thoroughly mix everything together. Divide the mixture into 10 evenly sized pieces and roll each piece into a ball, then flatten slightly so they will cook more quickly.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat then add the meatballs and fry for 5-6 minutes, turning once or twice, or until golden-brown on both sides and cooked through.
For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the garlic and chilli and fry for 1 minute. Tip in the tomatoes, increase the heat to high, and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce slightly then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the basil leaves, reserving a little for garnish.
To serve, spoon the hot tagliatelle into a wide bowl, put the meatballs on top, pour over the tomato sauce, scatter with Parmesan and garnish with a little basil.