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.

simple fresh tomato pasta

1 cup of fresh tomatoes (in season, any variety), finely chopped
3 or 4 heavy slugs of extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
pinch of raw sugar
pinch of Maldon
parmesan and basil leaves

dried pasta (spaghetti or penne or whatever you like)

Place the tomatoes, lemon, oil and seasoning into a large dish and set aside to mingle.
Heat plenty of water and cook the pasta. Add drained al dente paste to the dish holding the tomato mixture and toss in the basil leaves and a small handful of freshly grated parmesan.

simple tuna spaghetti

1 can tuna
juice of 1 lemon
good handful chopped flat leaf parsley
three heavy slugs of extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sugar
freshly ground black pepper
2T rinsed capers
fresh parmesan

dried spaghetti

Squeeze out the liquid from the tuna and place in a bowl. Separate with a fork and add the oil, lemon, sugar, pepper and capers. Set aside and heat plenty of water for the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente. Add the parsley to the tuna mixture and serve with the pasta (mixed in or on top as desired). Finish with some freshly grated parmesan.