Meatballs can be a great family meal that it seems foolish not to include a recipe that will cater for veggies and meat eaters.  And so easy too. I’ve served these with ‘courgetti’ instead of the usual pasta and would urge you to do the same.  Not only is it oh so simple to make but it’s so much more nutritious than the usual carb heavy accompaniement.  At the time of writing this it’s early in the new year and whilst carbs can seem like the only way to get through the darkness it’s a decision you’ll regret when spring has sprung, woolly jumpers are out and t-shirts are in.  I’ll leave the decision to you but take a look at how yummy and fresh the courgetti looks and if you have to use pasta make sure it’s wholemeal.  Seriously, nothing else will do.

Meatballs are a bit fiddly it has to be said but keep them a reasonable size and you won’t be in the kitchen all day.  The base for the veggie balls is lentils.  Pulses should, but don’t always, form a key part of the vegetarian diet. They’re cheap,  nutritious and even a meat eater can’t argue with that.

Heat the oven to 220C.

You’re going to make the first half of these recipes together. So, chop both  onions and put in a food processor, chop  the chilli, parsley and crush the garlic and put this mixture in the processor with the onion.  Give it a whizz until it’s in reasonably small pieces – you don’t want any chunks of anything but you don’t want a puree either.  Next, take out half the mixture.  Add the minced beef, breadcrumbs and fennel seeds and the egg.  Process all together until you have a combined mixture but not mush.  Now  form the meat into (roughly) 12 – 13 balls with your hands.  Keep your hands wet – it stops the mixture sticking.  Golf ball size is my go to reference.  Place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and put in the fridge to firm up.

Rinse out the processor and put the reserved onion mixture in along with the remaining veggieball ingredients.  This time you can be a bit less careful – mush is ok.  Form the mixture into balls as before and place on an oiled baking sheet and brush with olive oil.

Put both trays in the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes.

This tomato sauce is quite spicy so if you need to tone it down minimise the chilli.  As an aside, did you know that the longer your chilli has languished in the fridge the hotter it will be?  So, if your chillis have been hanging around expect something a little hotter.

Add the onion and garlic to a little olive oil in a saucepan and cook gently for 5 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and bubble away slowly until thickened.

A spiralizer is a great gadget and will ‘etti’ anything for you.  Courgettes, being soft, are one of the easiest.  No need to cook the courgettes – spiralize raw just before serving.  Pile the tomato sauce and veggie/meatballs on top and serve. I would add some salad as an accompaniement  – but I always do.