You know when you’re in a kitchen rut and you are just.so.tired of what you cook? 

And then your friend tell you something that SHE COOKS, and you’re just totally mind-blown by her brilliance? And suddenly YOUR ideas start to flow? Well, that’s the chain reaction that’s being set off every.single.time people talk about what they are cooking for dinner.

Let me share one simple idea to inspire you out of your next cooking rut. To be honest, I don’t feel this idea is a spark of brilliance, but I KNOW that you are tired of deciding what’s for dinner. So let me spark your creativity with just ONE SINGLE idea (not a bottomless list of recipe search results on Google).

I know it will help you. 

Ready for this week’s brilliant inspiration?

I know, it’s not rocket science, but often it’s the simplest thing that is the best thing. This brilliant meal often gets forgotten for months at a time in my kitchen: Spaghetti and Meatballs

What I love about this meal:

• It’s so delicious, which is probably the best reason there is to cook something. I mean, is there anything more satisfying?
• Use up aaaaallll the leftover bits and pieces from your crisper drawer – carrots, fennel, onion, garlic, greens, herbs, any veg really! Some into the meatballs and the rest into the sauce. 
• Hide all sorts of goodness in without your kids knowing. Aside from all the veggies, I add beef or chicken liver.
• Use any minced meat, or combination: beef, pork, chicken, lamb… whatever you’ve got. 
• Can be adapted for vegetarians by making lentilballs (Doesn’t sound quite as catchy, but you get the point)
• Leftovers are the BEST!

Plus, it can be repurposed into so many meals:

• Spaghetti and meatballs (add good quality cream before serving… omg, so good… even better than with parmesan)
• Saucy meatballs on toast or in a roll
• Blitz up the meatballs and sauce in the Thermomix or a food processor (or chop up the meatballs with a knife) and ta-da: you have bolognese!
• Serve with steamed, cubed potatoes or over a bed of greens
• Keep aside some of the meatball mixture and fry up a few little patties.

Watch me making this super simple meal in the Thermomix.

What do you think? Will you use that pack of frozen mince to make some meatballs this week?

The magic in making it in the Thermomix

Chances are you have your own way of making Spaghetti and Meatballs, but I’ve included my ‘recipe’ below. Feel free to freestyle here, and use it more as a guideline. Click here to jump ahead for the conventional (non-Thermomix) method.

But oh the Thermomix. It has completely revolutionised meatballs for me! In the Thermomix it is nearly completely hands off… as in, I don’t get my hands dirty with the meatball mixture AT ALL, until the actual meatball rolling stage.

While I actually LOVE getting my hands dirty and scrunching up the mince, I do find that I am highly inefficient… adding one ingredient at a time, getting my hands in, and then remembering I have more to add. And then my kids need something, so I’m again rinsing and drying my hands. There’s always LOTS and LOTS of rinsing and drying my hands and it just takes forever. Tell me this isn’t just me! 

The other thing that the Thermomix does that is revolutionary is that it keeps the meatballs and sauce separate, steaming the meatballs above, while the sauce cooking in the bowl below. AT THE SAME TIME. This means I can keep the elements separate for my fussy eaters, without having to turn on the oven. Also useful if you’re cooking for vegetarians and omnivores at the same time. Steam a tray of half meatballs / half lentilballs up above and everyone can choose which type of balls they want in their sauce!

I roughly followed the Cookidoo recipe for ‘Meatballs with tomato sauce’, which I definitely recommend for the Thermomixers. I made a few amendments, including adding fennel and carrot to both the meatballs and the sauce. And I increased the amount of crushed tomato. But following step by step would be delicious too.  Watch me make it here.

Cooking without a Thermomix? No problem.

If you don’t have a Thermomix, I’d use the conventional approach of simmering the meatballs in the sauce, and letting my fussy eaters deal with the food touching. Or giving in and rinsing the sauce off of a few meatballs. Oh the things I’m willing to do these days! 

INGREDIENTS:

Tomato sauce

• Olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, grated of finely chopped
• 1 carrot, grated or finely chopped
• 1200g crushed tomato, or equivalent of passata
• 2 Tbs tomato paste (optional)
• Generous slurp of red wine (optional)
• Generous teaspoon of sugar, or maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp salt
• Pepper

Meatballs

• A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped – Include the stalks if you don’t have fussy eaters.
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• Half an onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 bulb of fennel, finely chopped
• Half a carrot, grated
• 500g beef mince (or pork, or a combination)
• 100g beef liver, pureed (I puree the whole beef liver and freeze it in ice cube trays for easy use)
• 1 egg
• Zest of half a lemon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper

Method:

1. FIRST, MAKE THE TOMATO SAUCE. Fry onion, carrot and fennel in some olive oil until soft.
2. Make a little hole in the middle, add a splash of olive oil and fry the garlic for minute or two. Then mix it all together. I do this so the garlic doesn’t burn. Don’t walk away at this step (like I often do) because it will backfire and your garlic will surely burn!
3. Add tomato puree, passata or a combination of tomato paste and water. You’ll want a total volume of about 1L of tomato-ness.
4. Leave to cook on a medium-to-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring regularly.
5. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE MEATBALLS. In a bowl combine the egg, mince, liver, onion, garlic, carrot, fennel, salt, pepper. Squish and squeeze with your hands until well combined.
6. Roll into balls and drop into the simmering sauce. Let it simmer for… about 15 minutes maybe? 😂 Writing out recipes is new to me. I’ll get better.

So now that you have ONE simple idea to get you through the next meal, what does it spark for you? I’d love to hear YOUR idea, as it will most certainly help someone else! Comment below. 

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