Lamb Meatballs in Smoky Tomato Sauce
Serves 6
Meatball Ingredients
- 700g lean lamb mince
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- Salt and pepper
Sauce Ingredients
- Cooking oil spray
- 670g jar Italian tomato passata (I used Delmaine)
- 400g can diced tomatoes
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 large cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 3 medium carrots, grated
- 4 teaspoons of smoked paprika (less if using the Spanish variety from a tin)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup water, approximately, if required
Method
Combine the meatball ingredients to form 30 meatballs. Put aside while making the sauce.
Take a large non-stick pan and spray with cooking oil. Heat over moderate heat and add the onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until the onion softens. Take care not to burn it! Add the smoked paprika and stir for another couple of minutes. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, except the water. Add this later if you need it.
Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and then carefully place the meatballs in the sauce, pushing down until they are covered. Cover the casserole and cook at 180 degrees C for two hours.
While the casserole is cooking you might like to cut up pumpkin, kumara and/or potato and dry bake these on baking paper in the oven for about an hour, or until tender.
Serve the casserole with green beans and broccoli – and the baked veggies if desired.
It is a good investment to buy a casserole that can go on the stove top as well as in the oven as you can make this in one dish then.
