Greek meatballs with tomato sauce

Description

Fried meatballs can be small, heavy and oily - so bake rather than fry, for big, light, bouncy meatballs instead. Serve with rice and a big Greek salad.

Ingredients

2 thick slices white bread, crusts removed
125ml/4½fl oz red wine
500g/1lb 1oz minced beef or lamb
1 small onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ free-range egg, beaten
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500ml/17½fl oz tomato passata
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
2 bay leaves
handful rocket leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/355F/Gas 4.
2. Tear the bread into pieces and soak in the wine for five minutes. Remove the bread from the wine and squeeze gently, to remove as much wine as possible. Reserve the wine.
3. Place the wine-soaked bread into a bowl with the minced meat, onion, half of the garlic, egg, parsley, cumin and cinnamon. Season, to taste, with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Using your hands, thoroughly mix all the ingredients together.
5. Divide the mixture into eight evenly sized portions and shape each portion into a ball by rolling lightly between the palms of your hands. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
6. Place the meatballs onto a non-stick baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.
7. Pour the wine, used for soaking the bread, into a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the passata, tomato purée, tomato ketchup, olive oil, remaining clove of garlic, sugar and bay leaves and stir together.
8. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for ten minutes.
9. Add the baked meatballs to the sauce in the pan and simmer for a further ten minutes.
10. Garnish with rocket leaves and serve.