Baked Beef Meatballs With Tomato Sauce And Wholewheat Spaghetti

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ gas 6

Add your beef mince, panko breadcrumbs and a generous pinch of salt and pepper to a bowl

Mix thoroughly until fully combined (clean hands is the best way!), divide and roll into 3 meatballs per person

Boil half a kettle

Peel and finely grate your red onion[s]

Grate your cheddar flavour block[s]

Sit the beef meatballs over the grated onion in an oven-proof dish with a drizzle of olive oil

Put the dish in the oven for 5-6 min or until the onion has started to soften

While the onion is softening, dissolve your beef stock mix, tomato paste and a pinch of sugar in 150ml [200ml] [250ml] boiled water

Add your dried oregano, balsamic vinegar and chopped tomatoes and give everything a good mix up – this is your tomato sauce

Once the onion has softened, add the tomato sauce to the dish and cook for 25-30 min or until the meatballs are cooked through (no pink meat!) and the sauce has thickened to a ragù-like consistency

Meanwhile, reboil a kettle

Once the meatballs have been cooking for 10-15 min, add your pasta to a pot of boiled water with a large pinch of salt and bring to the boil over a high heat

Cook the pasta for 7-9 min (🔄 10-12 min for wholewheat) or until cooked with a slight bite

Once done, drain the pasta

Wash your spinach, then pat it dry with kitchen paper

Once the meatballs are cooked, remove the dish from the oven and top with the spinach

Return the dish to the oven and cook for 1-2 min further or until the spinach has started to wilt

Mix it all together – this is your baked beef meatballs with tomato sauce