This is perfect for those of you who may crave some comfort food and need a substitute for pasta. Zucchini ribbons are easy to make and hold lots of flavour when dipped into the rich tomato sauce. The meat balls can be made ahead of time and then gentle reheated while the zucchini ribbons are being prepared. Beware thought they cook very quickly and you may need a bit of practice so you don’t over cook them. The meat balls can also bee frozen and make a great standby meal when you’re busy.

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Ingredients

Meatballs

250g minced beef
250g minced pork
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup almond meal
2 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil

For the tomato sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large brown onion, peeled and finely diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
½ red chilli, finely sliced
Splash of beef stock
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
Bunch of fresh basil
1/4 cup pitted green olives, drained and finely diced
2 tbsp chopped oregano
Pinch of black pepper

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Method

Meatballs and Sauce

Start by making the sauce. In a large pan heat the olive oil and add the onion, gralic and chilli. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onion until translucent.

Deglaze the pan with a dash of beef stock, then add the tomatoes, basil, oregano and diced olives. Season with black pepper and simmer

While the sauce is gently simmering and reducing prepare the meat balls

Place the beef and pork mince into a large bowl and add the garlic, parsley, Parmesan and almond meal

Beat the eggs and add to the bowl

Using your hands mix all ingredients thoroughly, shape meatballs into the size of golfballs

Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the meat balls until browned. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan.

Once browned, add meatballs to sauce and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes on the stove top.

Zucchini Ribbons

This can be the tricky bit and it may take a bit of practice to get it looking ribbony!

The best way I have found to make zucchini ribbons is to get large, fresh and fairly firm zucchinis and lay them flat on a cutting board. You may want to place a tea towel under the board to make sure that it doesn’t slip

Get a wide vegetable peeler, you can also use a cheese cutter which seems to work quite well.

Hold the zucchini firmly on one end and draw the peeler along the zucchini, creating long (hopefully) even ribbons.

Once you have enough of these they can be blanched in boiling water quickly and drained immediately

To serve place meat balls and sauce over a bed of zucchini ribbons and garnish with some parsley and a little parmesan for flavour

Bon appetite!