All over the world, each country makes their claim to own the infamous meatball! Growing up, I always had dishes with ground beef, pork, and even chicken, and I loved the idea that you could immerse these little bundles of joy with various sauces and spices to make completely different dishes. Tonight I decided to make a Mediterranean Spicy Italian Meatball with a spin on a recipe I knew when I was still young!
I have tried to prepare a simple dish with the richest tomato vegetable sauce! The traditional recipe had white wine, breadcrumbs and milk. I have removed those from this because I really wanted my Spicy Italian Meatball as healthy as possible. I added in Mushrooms, Courgette and extra garlic instead!
The Best Spicy Italian Meatball
Print RecipeIngredients
- TO MAKE THE MEATBALLS:
- 1 pound minced beef
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 red onion, really finely diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
- TO MAKE THE MARINARA SAUCE:
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 green chilli, finely diced
- As many pitted green olives as you want, drained
- Small bunch basil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
Instructions
1. While preparing, put your oven around 350.
2. To prepare Marinara, lightly fry the onion, garlic and chilli for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the courgette and cook for 2 additional minutes.
3. Cook the mushroom in a small frying pan alone as you want to sweat out all the water/juice. Once cooked, add to the other pan with the other ingredients.
4. Add the tomatoes along with the basil and finally the olives. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Then, pour the mixture into a baking dish.
5. Now, let’s make the meatballs. While the tomato sauce is cooking, make the meatballs. To the mince, add parmesan and garlic. Season with a little salt and pepper and mix well.
6. Shape into walnut-sized balls and fry in hot olive oil until golden.
7. Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
8. You can serve it with some rice or pasta. I prefer it alone with a little sprinkle of parmesan on top!
