Our cheater's spaghetti and meatballs tastes just like Nonna's, but only takes a fraction of the time to make. The secret is using sausage meat for the meatballs and a homemade basil-infused sauce that can't be beat!
Produced in a facility that processes milk, sesame, eggs, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybean and sulphites.
500 g
Mild Italian Sausage, uncased
113 g
Baby Spinach
340 g
Spaghetti
(Contains Wheat)
10 g
Garlic
113 g
Onion, chopped
½ cup
Parmesan Cheese, shredded
(Contains Milk)
1 can
Diced Tomatoes
1 box
Tomato Passata
10 g
Basil
3
Salt and Pepper*
2
Oil*
In Step 5, cut a meatball open to make sure it's not pink inside before adding the spinach! Also, if the kids don't like the 'green stuff', set some sauce aside before adding the spinach!
Wash and dry all produce.* Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Mince or grate the garlic. Finely chop the basil leaves. (Reserve the basil stems — we'll use them to add extra flavour to the sauce!)
Roll the sausage meat into 1-inch meatballs. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of oil, then the meatballs. Cook, turning the meatballs occasionally, until golden-brown on all sides, 3-4 min. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and set aside.
Add another drizzle of oil to the same pan. Add the onion, garlic and basil stems. Cook until the onion softens, 3-4 min. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato passata. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the meatballs to the sauce. Simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, 9-10 min.
Meanwhile, add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until tender, 9-10 min. (Drain when the pasta is done cooking.)
Remove the basil stems from the sauce. Add the spinach and stir until wilted, 1-2 min.
Divide the spaghetti between bowls. Top with the meatballs and sauce. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and chopped basil leaves.