Italian meatballs with tomato sauce

Yet another really simple dish. I bought these very sweet plum tomatoes at the farmers market on Sunday so I thought I would make a tomato sauce to go along with italian meatballs. As with the fish fingers these are also stocked in the freezer for baby lunches and quick dinners. This time they are italian, next time they might be the original swedish ones served with mash and lingonberries or just mixed with left-over pesto. So many variations, so many recipes to post here.

Meatballs

Ingredients (for our dinner and a good batch to freeze)
Preheat oven to 200ºC
800 g minced beef
1 1/2 dl breadcrumbs
1 onion, finely chopped or grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp veal stock (or beef)
1 egg
3 dl of milk
1 dl grated parmesan
zest of 1 lemon
25 g of chopped parsley

Preparation
In a large bowl mix the milk and breadcrumbs, leave to soak for 5 mins. Meanwhile, chop or slice the onion and garlic, grate the parmesan and lemon.

Add all other ingredients to the milk and breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly. Shape into balls with wet hands. Place the meatballs in a roasting tray and bake in the oven for 15 mins. In the meantime, prepare the tomato sauce.

Tomato sauce
Ingredients
5 small cloves of garlic
2 cans of chopped tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes of course)
1 tbsp of honey (add to your taste)
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Finely chop or grate the garlic. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the garlic just until it gets a little bit of colour, then add the tomatoes, honey and balsamic vinegar. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, season with salt and pepper.

Spoon over the meatballs and serve with pasta and a green leafy salad or steamed broccoli for the kids.