Swingball Meatballs with Smoked Tomato Linguine
When we were kids a skipping rope and a hula hoop constituted a pretty good evening’s entertainment*. As the years went by a swingball set appeared in the garden and then it wasn’t long before our humble Frisbee became a long range Aerobie. Whatever your summertime pleasure, we put this little number together with speed and ease in mind, so you’ve got more time for the fun stuff. *OK, maybe we’re not that old. Though Head Chef Patrick might be. Shhhhhhhh.
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
1
Onion
2
Carrot
2
Celery Stick
(Contains Celery)
4
Flat Leaf Parsley
1
Pork & Oregano Sausage
(Contains Sulphites)
2
Chopped Tomatoes
1
Smoked Paprika
2
Bay Leaf
400
Linguine
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
1
Dried Thyme
4
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains Milk)
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Boil a large pot of water with ½ tsp of salt. Peel and finely chop both the onion and the carrots. Slice the celery lengthways into six lengths and then finely chop. Finely chop the parsley.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non stick frying pan on medium heat. Once hot add in the onion, carrot and celery. Gently cook for around 5 mins until soft. Tip: If the veggies start to brown off add 1 tbsp of water and turn the heat down.
Cut the sausage open and squeeze the meat out into a bowl. Discard the skin.
Rub a tiny drop of olive oil onto a plate and fill a mug with warm water. LH: Wet your fingers and roll the sausage meat, 1 tsp at a time, into little balls. Line the balls up on your plate like little ranks of sausage soldiers. Tip: Wetting your fingers stops the meat sticking to them.
Once the veggies are soft, add in the tinned tomatoes. Refill the can a fifth with water and swirl it around then tip this into the sauce as well. Add in ½ tsp of salt, ½ tsp of sugar(if you have some), the smoked paprika and the bay leaves. Cook on medium-low heat until the sauce thickens.
In a separate frying pan (to save time) heat 2 tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat. Once hot, gently add in the sausage meatballs for about 8 mins. Brown the meatballs on all sides, then drain off the fat and add the meatballs to the sauce.Tip: Do not overcrowd the pan as you will end up stewing rather than browning the meatballs.
While the sauce thickens up, cook the linguine in the boiling water. The pasta should be cooked for around 6 mins, or until ‘al dente’. Tip: ‘Al dente’ means the pasta is cooked through but has a hint of firmness left in the middle.Drain the pasta.
Once the sauce has thickened up, stir in the finely chopped parsley and dried thyme. Tip the pasta into the pan and toss everything together. Tip: Gently stir with a wooden spoon if tossing risks messing up the kitchen!LH: Grate over the Parmesan and get stuck in!
