Tuscan Meatball Bake

Recipe courtesy of Everyday Eats by Jasmin Weston, published by Plum, RRP $44.95, photography by Ben Dearnley

A warm hug from Nonna. That’s exactly what this dish feels like when you’re devouring it. Enjoy it on its own, or on a bed of mash, rice or pasta – whatever your heart desires.

Serves: 5

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 500 g good-quality sausages of your choice, skins removed (for an Italian dish, I like to use sausages flavoured with an Italian-style seasoning)
• 35 g (1⁄3 cup) dried breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, roughly diced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 200 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• handful of fresh basil leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 500 ml (2 cups) beef stock
• 125 ml (1⁄2 cup) thickened cream
• 125 g fresh mozzarella, torn
• 35 g (1⁄3 cup) freshly grated parmesan

TO SERVE

• fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Method

1. Mise en place (get all your ingredients and equipment ready before you start). Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced.

2. In a bowl, combine the sausage meat, breadcrumbs and egg. Use your hands to ensure everything is well incorporated.

3. Use a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon to roll 20-ish meatballs about the size of a golf ball, then set aside. (Don’t make the meatballs too big. Smaller is better for this dish – shock, I know!)

4. Heat the olive oil in a cast-iron pot over medium heat and sauté the onion with the oregano, paprika and salt and pepper for 2 minutes until softened and translucent.

5. Add the cherry tomatoes and allow them to blister into a jam-like consistency, about 3–4 minutes. If you’re extremely impatient, you can speed up this process by adding a splash of water to the pan and popping the lid on. The steam will help break down the tomatoes a lot faster.

6. Add the tomato paste and cook it out, stirring constantly, for 1–2 minutes. This will bypass the tartness and allow the sugars to caramelise, creating a slightly sweet flavour to the dish.

7. Add the basil and stir it through before adding the garlic and cooking for 30–60 seconds until fragrant.

Adding garlic too early can cause it to burn. Remember, be calculated when you add garlic to a dish. It only needs a fraction of time before it starts to turn bitter.

8. Add the stock, reduce the heat to low and bring to a simmer before adding the cream and stirring it through.

9. Taste the sauce to ensure it’s seasoned correctly. Remember Rule #6: Season, Taste, Season, Taste. Salt until you get that ‘zing’.

10. Add the meatballs to the pan and cover the meatballs in the sauce to prevent them from drying out in the oven. Add the mozzarella and parmesan on top before popping into the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

11. Finish with the chopped parsley and serve.

Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month.