SAUSAGE MEATBALLS AND PASTA RECIPES

Steps:

• Cut the sausage links in half and place them into a 6 quart stock pot.
• Add the olive oil and garlic, stir to coat; brown on medium heat stirring often to keep them from burning.
• Add the tomato sauce, puree, basil, oregano and salt to the browned sausage and reduce heat to low; cover and slow simmer.
• MEATBALLS.
• Mix ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, Worcestershire and eggs together in a bowl.
• Shape meatballs into size of your choice and place into a shallow glass baking pan.
• Preheat oven to 400°F and bake meatballs from 20-40 minutes depending upon size.
• Add meatballs to the sauce and let simmer for 3 hours;stir occasionally and skim the fat off the top so the sauce is not greasy when it is done.
• Add the tomato paste 1 hour before the sauce is done to thicken it up.
• 1/2 hour after adding the tomato paste test the sauce; if it is too sweet from the paste add the beef base to counteract the sweetness--if not, leave this out and enjoy!

Steps:

• 1. Heat a large saucepan and add a few lugs of olive oil. Snip the sausages apart, then squeeze and pinch the meat out of the skins so that you get little meatball shapes – don’t make them too big or they will take too long to cook.
  2. Try to get at least three balls out of each sausage. Don’t worry about rolling them into perfect balls and making them look all fancy – rough and rustic is good! Put them into your pan. Keep frying and turning the meatballs until they’re golden brown and cooked through.
  3. Meanwhile, put the spaghetti into a large pan of salted boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions until al dente.
  4. To make your tomato sauce, heat a separate pan and pour in some olive oil. Add the garlic and the chopped basil stalks and move them around the pan for a couple of minutes. Put some small basil leaves to one side for later, and sprinkle the rest into the pan. Add the tomatoes and season carefully to taste.
  5. Bring to a simmer, break up your tomatoes a bit more with a spoon and add a swig of balsamic vinegar – it’s lovely for adding sweetness to the sauce.
  6. Add the herbs to the pan of sausage meatballs, tossing everything in all the lovely flavours. Cook for around 30 seconds. When your spaghetti is cooked, drain it and divide the pasta and meatballs between four bowls.
  7. Spoon over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle over the reserved basil leaves and serve with a handful of fresh peas per person in the middle of the table, so that everyone can have a go at podding their own, and a little Parmesan for grating and shaving over the top.