Melt in the Middle Meatballs
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Melt in the Middle Meatballs

Melt in the Middle Meatballs

Sleeves rolled up! Hands washed but still damp, let’s get rolling! The skill is in wrapping the cheese entirely with the meat, so it’s hiding, ready to be discovered when everyone tucks in. Surprise, surprise!

Tags:
Family Friendly
Allergens:
Milk
Cereals containing gluten

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.

Preparation Time40 minutes
Cooking time
DifficultyMedium

Ingredients

/ serving 4 people

1

Red Onion

2

Garlic Clove

1

Mozzarella

(Contains Milk)

5

Panko Breadcrumbs

(Contains Cereals containing gluten)

2

Dried Thyme

450

Beef Mince

2

Tomato Puree

5

Italian Style Herbs

2

Chopped Tomatoes

1

Beef Stock Pot

400

Wheat Spaghetti

(Contains Cereals containing gluten)

4

Parmesan Cheese

(Contains Milk)

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Nutritional information

/ per serving
Energy (kcal)718 kcal
Energy (kJ)3004 kJ
Fat14 g
of which saturates7 g
Carbohydrate96 g
of which sugars0 g
Protein50 g
Salt0 g
Always refer to the product label for the most accurate ingredient and allergen information.

Utensils

Grill Pan
Knife
Mixing Bowl
Pot

Instructions

Prep the veg
1

Peel and finely chop the red onion and garlic. Cut the mozzarella into ½cm cubes. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and fry half the onion for about 5 mins until softened (keep the rest of the onion for your sauce). Add the breadcrumbs, thyme and half the garlic. Stir for 1-2 mins.

2

Take off the heat, put the mixture in a bowl and add the beef mince and 1 tbsp of tomato purée. Season with ½ tsp of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix together.

Shape the meatballs
3

Use damp hands and shape the meat into small (ping pong sized) balls around each cube of mozzarella cheese. LH: This is a perfect job for small hands, keep hands damp so the meatballs don’t get too sticky.

Fry the meatballs
4

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the frying pan on medium-high heat and fry the meatballs for 10-15 mins, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides and cooked through. Take them out of the pan and set aside. Tip: Be gentle when turning the meatballs, otherwise they might fall apart.

Simmer the sauce
5

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the same pan and fry the remaining onion, garlic and Italian herbs for about 4 mins until softened. Add the tinned tomatoes, fill a quarter of one tin with water and add to the sauce along with the remaining tomato purée and beef stock pot, simmer for 10-15 mins. Add ½ tsp of sugar(if you have some.)

6

Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and simmer for 11 mins or until ‘al dente’. Tip: ‘Al dente’ simply means it is cooked through but has a hint of firmness left in the middle.

7

Tip your cooked meatballs into the tomato sauce and gently mix together. Drain and divide the spaghetti between your plates, top with the meatballs and sauce and grate over the parmesan. Tip: Cut the spaghetti into shorter lengths for very young diners. Top with any remaining mozzarella cubes and serve. Tip: Adults may need a bib as well as smaller members of the family! It could get messy!