Slow cooked meatballs and garlic butter pappardelle

This pasta and meatballs recipe is great for batch cooking. I'll get several dinners out of it, and it's one I love to pick at after a long day's work.

Slow cooked meatballs and garlic butter pappardelle. Credit: Robin Murray / Mark Moriarty: Off Duty Chef

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  1:15 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 10 medium tomatoes
• 1 bulb garlic
• 400 g beef mince
• 200 g pork mince
• 5 g dried rosemary
• 10 g parmesan, grated
• 1 egg yolk
• 50 g dried breadcrumbs
• 18 g sea salt
• Black pepper, to taste
• Vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 50 ml white wine vinegar
• 500 ml beef stock
• 400 g pappardelle
• 50 g butter
• 50 g basil
• 50 g parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C. Place a sheet of tinfoil on a tray.
2. Slice the tomatoes and place on the tray, then season with olive oil, salt and sugar. Place the garlic bulb on the tray as well and cook for 1 hour in the oven.
3. Meanwhile, place the beef and pork mince in a bowl. Add the rosemary, parmesan, egg yolk and breadcrumbs, salt and pepper on top and work the mix lightly until it comes together.
4. Roll into balls in your hand (roughly golf ball sized) and set aside in the fridge.
5. In a heavy based saucepan, heat some oil (about a tablespoon) over medium heat, ad the onion and cook, stirring, until softened and starting to colour. Season with a little salt during cooking.
6. Remove the tray from the oven. The tomatoes should be firm and roasted. Place these to the onion in the pan, along with the white wine vinegar and the beef stock. Bring the mix to the boil and then crush using a potato masher to make a sauce like consistency.
7. Remove the butt from the roasted garlic and squeeze out the pulp. Place half in the sauce and reserve the remainder.
8. Reduce the sauce to a simmer and place the meatballs in. Simmer for 10mins, turning after about 7 minutes, until cooked through. The sauce will reduce as the meatballs cook, concentrating the flavour.
9. Cook the pappardelle in boiling salted water for 7 minutes until just cooked.
10. Meanwhile, in a pan, add butter and reserved garlic. Add two ladles of the pasta water and cook over a high heat until a sauce consistency is formed.
11. Remove the pasta from the water and add to the garlic butter sauce. Stir together.
12. Finish by adding the meatballs. Top with torn basil leaves and some grated parmesan.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.