Savoury | Truly Tender Meatballs in a Rich Tomato Sauce … #comfortfood

“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.”
Sophia Loren

It’s been a while since I posted something savoury here on PAB. A link that I followed after posting my #pieformikey led me to the beautiful Food52. There was this huge connect I felt; loved the honest to goodness style of posting. Meandering around with Jennifers voice playing in my head , don’t wait for tomorrow, my eye caught a link to Spaghetti and Meatballs… there was going to be no waiting now!
Delving deeper and deeper I landed up at this tried and tested recipe for Truly Tender Meatballs in Rich Tomato Sauce by lastnightsdinner that promised the best meatballs ever in a rich tomato sauce. I knew I had to make this without wasting another day … the tiresome teen had been begging me to make some for ages. Heed Jennifers advice … do it now!
This has entered my recipe folder as one of the BEST.COMFORT.FOODS.EVER! We are a family that love our food, be it the healthy version of Indian Butter Chicken, Pizza {with Peter Reinharts pizza dough}, Chicken Quark Crossover Pastry, Thai Chicken Satay {not blogged yet but made recently & it was delicious} … … or then this version of spaghetti & meatballs. I’ve made meatballs before but these turned out to be the best to date. I think it was the ricotta in there AND a great recipe!!

Tell me dear readers, do you have a favourite bunch of comfort food main meal recipes you reach out for over and over again? Would love you to share the links with me.

Recipe: Truly Tender Meatballs in a Rich Tomato Sauce

Summary: A recipe adapted from Last Nights Dinner is true to its title…these are truly tender meatballs in a rich tomato sauce. The secret ingredient probably ricotta that makes the meatballs tender and delicious.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes + chilling time
Ingredients for Chicken Meatballs:

500gm chicken mince {from thigh tenders}
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cup ricotta, drained {homemade recipe here}
1 onion, chopped fine
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/2 tsp roasted red chili flakes
Handful of fresh basil
1 egg
Salt & pepper
Oil to shallow fry

Method:

Run all ingredients in processor until the mince is smooth.
Thermomix: Drop 1 slice of bread in and process on Speed 4 for 10 seconds. Add the onion, garlic and basil and chop on Speed 4 for 10 seconds, scrape down, and process for another 10 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and process on Speed 6 for 15 seconds}
Chill in fridge for 30 minutes {I left mine overnight}
Make small meatballs and shallow fry in batches until golden brown on all sides {don’t over crown the pan}
Remove and keep warm.
Once all done, pour the tomato sauce {recipe follows} into the same pan and simmer the meatballs in the sauce for an hour or so.
Check seasoning, add fresh basil and serve over spaghetti. {About 400gms spaghetti}
Note: Thin out the sauce with some pasta water if it is too thick.

Ingredients for Rich Tomato Sauce:

1 kg tomatoes,
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
5-6 cloves garlic
Red chili flakes
Zest of 1 lime
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Handful of fresh basil
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method:

Saute the finely chopped onion, garlic, basil and bell pepper in olive oil for 2-3 minutes.
Add chopped tomatoes and cook covered on simmer till sauce comes together. Blend rough or smooth as you like it. {I left mine medium}
Add zest of 1 lime, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Thermomix: Place onion, garlic,basil, bell pepper in TM jar and process on Speed 4 for 6 seconds. Scrape down sides and repeat. Add EVOO and cook on 100C, reverse speed 2 for 3 minutes. Add halved tomatoes and run on Speed 4 for 7 seconds. Season with red chili flakes, salt and pepper. Cook on 100C/reverse speed 2 for 20 minutes. Once cooked, puree to desired consistency on Speed 8 increasing to 10/ 10-20 seconds depending on how smooth you want the sauce to be.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Baking| Gateau Aux Pommes … Comforting Apple Cake!

“When the night has come, And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
No I won’t be afraid, No I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”
Ben E. King

These are lyrics of one of my favourite songs, the words, the tone, the tenor … all pure comfort! I’m sorry it’s been a while and I have to admit life seems to have got the better of me. Summer has hit us splat on, the kids now on summer vacation and the headless chicken dance doesn’t seem to end. Is it something with me being disorganised, or is it just a sign of the times … so much to do and so little time!The last 2 weeks whizzed by getting visas organised etc {we need visas on our passports to go practically anywhere, except HKG maybe!!} Heat and dust, electricity power cuts, teens at their trying best, parents at their coping best or worst {still trying to figure that last one out} … and then the desire to blog! Nothing adds up to a balanced equation…

We put the kids on a flight to Dubai for 5 days where they are being spoilt silly by their sweet cousin. I figured I had 5 ‘whole‘ days to catch up, and had grand plans. 2 days are gone and I’ve hit panic mode. Nothing done as I am still trying to get back my lost energy … the heat saps you of most, and bringing up kids drains the rest.Getting to the foodie bit now. I haven’t baked for a few days with all this running around, so I’ve dug into my archives for an apple cake that I made last month, one I meant to post, but didn’t quite get there. It’s a minimally adapted recipe from Tartlette, one that spells COMFORT! It’s like an old fashioned cake, almost crossing into a steamed pudding, and holds wonderful old world charm.

Of the cake Helene says, “I am pretty sure that most French people reading are familiar with the “Gateau aux Pommes 5-4-3-2-1″ that the brand Tupperware® introduced during home demonstrations of their products. A very simple, very unassuming and particularly delicious apple cake, soft and moist all the way through. It was especially known for its creamy butter and sugar topping forming a tempting thin crust while baking.“

I made it with apples. Possibly it should work well with peaches, maybe apricots too. I skipped the cardamom in it as I’m not a huge fan of cardamom in bakes, but you can add a tsp in with the flour. You could sprinkle the top with slivered almonds like I did here, and also for Marie Helen’s Apple Cake from Dorie Greenspan ‘Around My French Table’ . That and a dusting of sugar prettied it up!!I made several small cakes in ramekins lined with cupcake liners {to aid easy removal} and a 4″ cake in a spring-form tin. This was indeed a simple, comforting, unassuming apple cake, delicious and moist, with the promise of old world charm. A couple of tablespoons of unsweetened low fat cream make it even more addictive!

Recipe: Gateau Aux Pommes {Apple Cake}

Summary: A simple, comforting, unassuming apple cake, delicious and moist. A couple of tablespoons of unsweetened low fat cream make it even more addictive! Recipe adapted minimally from Tartlette.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients for the cake:

1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/4 cup low fat cream
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

Ingredients for the topping:

5 1/2 tbsp {80g} unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean scraped {or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract}

Method for cake:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9″ round tin, or line several small ramekins with cupcake liners. Place them on a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Reserve.
In another bowl, whisk the milk, low fat cream,oil, egg and scraped vanilla bean until just blended.
Slowly pour the wet mix over the dry mix, mixing gently till fully incorporated {40-50 strokes}
Pour batter into prepared baking tin/ramekins and arrange the apple slices over in a circular pattern.
Bake for 10 minutes, and in the meantime prepare the topping.

Method for topping:

Whisk the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla bean and egg and whisk again to blend.
Remove the baked cakes from oven, leaving the oven on. Spread the creamy butter topping over the cakes, sprinkle with slivered almonds if desired.
Return to oven and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India