Change what you know about meatballs by adding a dollop of basil pesto to your mixture for an easy flavour boost. Served with a rich tomato sauce on top of spaghetti (and we haven’t forgotten the cheese!), this is an Italian-inspired bowl everyone will love!
Always refer to the product label for the most accurate ingredient and allergen information.
/ Serving 2 people
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Finely chop the brown onion (see ingredients). Finely chop the garlic. Grate the zucchini.
In a medium bowl, combine the beef mince, fine breadcrumbs, salt, egg and basil pesto. Using damp hands, take a heaped spoonful of the beef mixture and gently shape into a small meatball. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining mixture. You should get about 4-5 meatballs per person. TIP: The pesto makes these meatballs extra tender but also delicate, so handle them carefully!
Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until 'al dente', 10 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, drain the pasta, then return to the saucepan. Drizzle with olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the beef meatballs, in batches, until browned, 5-6 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Return the frying pan to a medium-high heat and add another drizzle of olive oil, if needed. Add the onion, garlic, Italian herbs (see ingredients) and zucchini and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add the passata, brown sugar, butter and some reserved pasta water (1 1/2 tbs for 2 people / 3 tbs for 4 people). Crumble the beef stock (1 cube for 2 people / 2 cubes for 4 people) into the sauce and bring to the boil.
Add the meatballs to the sauce and cover with a lid or foil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, 6-7 minutes. Add the baby spinach leaves to the pan, increase the heat to high and cover with a lid or foil until just wilted, 1 minute. Season to taste. TIP: Add more reserved pasta water to your sauce if it's dry!
Roughly chop the semi-dried tomatoes. Divide the spaghetti, basil pesto meatballs and sauce between plates. Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan cheese and top with semi-dried tomatoes to serve.