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 Aerobee. Whatever your childhood 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
6
Pork Sausage
(Contains Sulphites, Cereals containing gluten)
440
Linguine
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
1
Smoked Paprika
2
Chopped Tomatoes
4
Flat Leaf Parsley
2
Bay Leaf
4
Grated Hard Italian Style Cheese
(Contains Milk, Egg)
2
Celery Stick
(Contains Celery)
⅔
Carrot
1
Onion
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Boil a large pot of water with ½ tsp of salt. Peel and finely dice both the onion and the carrot. Slice the celery stick lengthways into six lengths and then finely dice. Finely chop the parsley.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick 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 a tbsp of water and turn the heat down.
Cut the sausages open and squeeze the meat out into a bowl. Discard the sausage skins.
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 have softened up add in your tinned tomatoes. Refill the can a fifth with water and swirl it around then tip this into the sauce as well. Add in ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar (if you have some), ½ tsp smoked paprika and the bay leaf. Cook on medium heat until the sauce thickens.
In a separate pan (to save time) heat another tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat. Once hot, gently add in your sausage meatballs for about 8 mins. Brown the meatballs off on all sides then drain off the fat and add the meatballs to your sauce. Tip: Do not overcrowd the pan as you will end up stewing rather than browning the meatballs.
While your sauce thickens up, cook your pasta in the boiling water. The pasta should be cooked for around 10 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. 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: Scatter over the grated Parmesan and get stuck in!
