While we were in Florence we ate a lot of pork dishes. A lot of the pasta contained pork sausage and minced pork. It was so nice, I really wanted to try pork meatballs when I got home.
This was a simple experiment at making pork meatballs that turned out so good, I was thinking about them for days afterwards. It's definitely a recipe I will make again and again. It's so easy too!
I served it with roast potatoes, which I'd thoroughly recommend. But it could also be served with pasta, or even cous cous and vegetables.
I made this in my Sage Fast Slow Pro
, which gave it that rich slow cooker feel in just half an hour. But you could easily make it in the slow cooker, or just on the hob. The most important thing is to make sure you brown the meatballs before adding the sauce as this gives it flavour.
I also recommend using Cirio chopped tomatoes
. I was sent some over a year ago to try, and have been converted ever since. They make for a rich, thick sauce which the meatballs need.
This serves 4 adults. We had the leftovers for work lunch and it was delicious, and reheats very well.
Pork Meatballs in Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 750 g pork mince
- 2 tspn mixed herbs
- 2 tbspn olive oil
- 2 pinches of salt and pepper
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tins worth of water use the empty tomato tin to measure
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pinch chilli flakes
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the pork mince, 1 pinch of salt and pepper and 2 teaspoons of mixed herbs well.
- Heat the oil in a sauce pan (an enamalled cast iron pan is also fine).
- Take a small handful of the mince meat, roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons and roll into a ball. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
- Gently place the meatballs into the frying pan. As they start to brown turn them over. They should be a fairly dark brown to make sure you get the flavour of the meat. See the instagram video as an idea, it should take roughly 10 minutes,
- Add the chopped tomatoes, then fill the empty tin with tap water and add that too.
- Crumble the stock cube in, season with salt and pepper and add the chilli flakes and sage leaves.
- Simmer on the hob for an hour, or the pressure cooker for 30mins, or the slow cooker for at least 2 hours.
The links included in this post are affiliate links to amazon, but all recommendations are genuine and my own.
Love pork meatballs (and Cirio tomatoes!) I often make mine from Sausages.
Mmm this sounds rather lovely! That tomato sauce looks so rich and delicious!
mmm sounds delicious. I love meat balls and tomato - classic combination! š