meatballs

~meatballs~
400g beef mince
400g pork mince
1 egg
1 red chilli (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
2T chicken stock liquid (concentrate)
1c fresh breadcrumbs
1T cumin seeds (or substitute 1T dried oregano)
1t coriander seeds
1t fennel seeds
Maldon
freshly ground black pepper

~sauce~
1 tin whole peeled tomatoes
1 jar/tin/carton passata
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 red onion, sliced into fine segments
2 shallots, sliced as above
zest one lemon
olive oil
Maldon
raw sugar
freshly ground black pepper
few slugs red wine
fresh basil

Toast and grind in a mortar and pestle the coriander, cumin and fennel. Place all ingredients for meatballs into a bowl and mix by hand until combined (if omitting the cumin for oregano, add the oregano at this point). Make small or large balls and brown in olive oil in a large saute pan. Remove the meatballs and set aside. Heat some olive oil in the pan, adding the chili, onion and shallots, and cooking gently until translucent. Add the lemon zest at the end. then add the tomatoes, red wine and a few slugs of olive oil, seasoning with pepper, salt and sugar. Turn down the heat and simmer gently until reduced to a thick sauce. Scatter with fresh basil and then add meatballs to the sauce for the last five minutes. Toss in al dente spaghetti with more fresh basil - if the sauce is too thick, add a little of the pasta water. Serve scattered with torn basil and freshly grated Parmesan.