This is a handy recipe to make and freeze in portions for emergency meals. The quantity given here will make approximately 150 walnut sized meatballs. I usually freeze in bags of 16 meatballs – 8 each for 2 people, and make 3 trays of 42 meatballs altogether. It’s up to you how large your appetite is!

It is very easy to half the recipe and quantities don’t need to be exact. Use the seasonings to your taste. If the mixture seems very stiff and difficult to mix, add a little milk to make the mixture softer, but not too much, you don’t want it sloppy!

You will need a large bowl and a small scoop if possible but this is not essential.

Once I’ve made the mixture I scoop out the meatballs onto a baking tray and bake for about 10 minute, just to half cook them and help them to stick together. As soon as they come out of the oven and have cooled, I bag them up and freeze.

Try them with the spaghetti sauce recipe, you can make and freeze that in batches too for a quick meal. When you want the meal, defrost the tomato sauce and simmer the meatballs gently in the sauce for about half an hour, to give lots of flavour to the sauce and make the meatballs tender.

Ingredients for Meatballs

2 lb beef mince

1 lb pork mince

2 eggs, gently beaten

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

2/3 cup breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons garlic paste or 2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons dried parsley

How to Make the Meatballs

Before you start, prepare 3 baking trays by lining with greaseproof paper, silicone sheet or baking parchment.

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together as evenly as possible. Use your hands. ( I use a large Kenwood Chef foodmixer, but I don’t think a handheld one would be powerful enough, although it might work for a half quantity).

Now pull off small pieces of mixture about the size of a walnut, and roll into a ball between the palms of your hands, and lay it on the baking sheet. If you have a small scoop it will make the job quicker.

Bake in the oven at 180C for about 10-15 minutes until the meatballs are brown and set. but not too baked. You don’t want stones! They will finish cooking in the tomato sauce.

Once they are out of the oven, scoop them onto a cooking tray so that they aren’t sitting in fat, and allow to cool. Then bag in the required quantities and freeze.

To use them, you can defrost them and simmer in tomato sauce, either home made or from a jar. Defrost by leavung out for an hour or in the microwave. I just put the frozen meatballs in the simmering sauce and allow to cook gently but thoroughly.

Serve with spaghetti with a couple of spoonfuls of pesto stirred through.

Tags: bbef mince, breadcrumbs, cheddar cheese, garlic, oregano, parsley, pork mince
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