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Pappardelle
with
meatballs
in roasted tomato sauce
It’s time to pull out all your pots and pans, and get your kitchen smelling like an Italian nonna’s!
Pappardelle is a flat, broad ribboned variety of pasta. The name derives from the verb “pappare” - to gobble up. It works well in sauce based pasta dishes. You can also use other ribboned variety of pasta like fettuccine, tagliatelle, spaghetti, etc.
For this recipe you can either make your own pasta or use ready-to-boil varieties. You can find my recipe to make handmade pasta here.
3 hours Serves 3-4
Roasted tomato sauce
5 large tomatoes
1 large onion
1 garlic bulb
1 carrot
1 large stalk of celery
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Water (to adjust consistency)
¾ cup mixed sprouts/lentils (optional)
handful of fresh parsley and basil, chopped
You will need:
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Preheat your oven to 200°C
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Chop up all the vegetables into large chunks and scatter them in a baking tray, along with rosemary sprigs.
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Drizzle over oil and season with little salt. Mix with your hands to coat everything.
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Roast the vegetables for 35-40 minutes until they have a golden brown char. Once roasted, take them out of the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
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Transfer vegetables into a food processor and blend to form a smooth puree. Add a little water to the baking pan and use the pan juices to loosen the sauce.
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Transfer the puree into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add in all of the herbs and seasonings. (remaining salt, black pepper, bay leaf, oregano, chilli flakes, sugar, worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar) I added some sprouts at this stage to make it a bit more filling, but you can surely leave it out if you want.
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Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Use a little water to adjust the consistency of the sauce. Add in freshly chopped basil and parsley before serving.
Roasted chicken meatballs
300 g chicken mince
1 small egg
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
½tsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp barbecue sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup mozzarella, grated
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Mix together all the ingredients and form golf ball sized meatballs. Oil your hands to prevent the mixture from sticking. Place the meatballs in a well oiled baking tray.
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In a preheated oven, bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes.
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Remove the tray from the oven and coat meatballs with a little bit of your prepared tomato sauce. Sprinkle over some grated mozzarella.
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Turn oven up to 220°C and bake for 3-4 minutes until the cheese has melted.
Note:
The meatballs develop a better flavour if you let the mixture marinate for a couple of hours or even overnight.
Assembly:
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Cook your pasta in salted boiling water.
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Reserve some of the cooking liquid in a cup and drain out the remaining.
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Transfer pasta to a mixing bowl; add in the tomato sauce and a few basil leaves. Mix gently and use some of the cooking liquid to loosen up the pasta.
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Serve with the pasta with a couple of those delicious roasted meatballs on top, a drizzle of olive oil and some basil.
Here are some photos from the process:
Making fresh pasta!
Meatball mixture
