A Spaghetti and meatball meal is one that your kids will surely love. Meatballs are easy to pick by kids and munch on. They are also attractive enough for children with low appetites. Cooking meatballs together with the kids makes them more eager to eat them later. Let them make balls with their tiny hands and help around the kitchen too.
What are meatballs?
Meatballs are round balls made out of minced meat together with other ingredients like bread crumbs, eggs, onions and seasoning. These may be pan-fried or cooked in the oven.
Tips for making the best meatballs
Choose the right meats for making meatballs. Any minced meat can be meatballs but meats endowed with natural fats like beef and pork will make better meatballs. You should consider mixing two different types of meats to improve the taste of your meatballs.
Keep the minced meat and ingredients cold to avoid the fats from melting prematurely. Fats are responsible for adding flavour to your meat and making it juicy and tender.
Add moisture to your meatballs to keep them soft and moist. Meat loses its moisture while cooking and becomes hard. You surely don’t want to end up with hard meatballs for your children. Add bread crumbs preferably homemade, if you don’t know how to do it click here, an egg and a little milk to bind the meat together; this will help to keep the moisture inside.
Bet gentle as you roll the ball together, one this is so that you don’t overwork the meat, but also to keep the meatball cold. The heat generated in your hands can start melting the fats which are not our intention.
Taste your meatball mixture for seasoning by scooping a spoon and cooking it on a pan, when it is ready to taste it for seasoning if it suits your taste great then if it does not adjust it to meet your taste buds.
Ingredients for the meatballs
250gs of minced beef meat
250gs of minced pork
1 onion minced/ finely grated
1 carrot finely grated
I medium to large egg
I tablespoon of olive/ vegetable oil
Ingredients for the tomato sauce
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
4 big finely crushed tomatoes/ blended
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of black pepper
Method
Step 1
In a preferably cold bowel place all your ingredients except the vegetable oil, and mix well and gently with your hands until it is evenly mixed. Ensure that the young kids don’t start eating at this moment because it may be tempting for them.
Step 2
Let the children roll out small sized balls with the palms of their hands. This is surely a participative part for the kids; let them have fun as they make the rolls with your watchful guidance.
Step 3
Since the kids are busy you can make the tomato sauce in the meantime. Add 1table spoon of vegetable oil to your cooking pan when is it ready add to eat the finely chopped onions and garlic, cook them until they are soft and mushy. Then stir in your finely crushed tomatoes and their juice, 1 tablespoon of sugar, black paper and any other seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes on low heat until fine done.
Step 4
Heat a little oil in a thick in a large frying pan, when the oil is ready add your meatballs in batches and brown both sides. When ready toss them into the sauce and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes.
Serving
Cook the spaghetti over a large pot of boiling water until just tender but still firm. Drain them and serve them on different plates according to the number of your servings. Spoon the sauce and meatballs over the spaghetti, now you can dig in but not just yet, the kids have to wait some more or they will get burnt by the hot food, let it cool to room temperature before the kids eat.
