'Lion head' meatballs

For ➍ (or ➊➋ balls)

 meatballs: 

500 beef minced 

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

2 tbs grated fresh root ginger 

2 spring onions, finely chopped 

pinch sea salt 

1 tbs Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry* 

2 tbs light soy sauce* 

1 tbs toasted sesame oil*

1 free-range egg, beaten* 

1 tbs cornflour 

pinch ground white pepper 

  finished dish: 

10 cl groundnut oil** 

75 cl vegetable stock**

300 g Chinese cabbage, quartered lengthways 

3 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 15 m, then drained (alternative: use fresh chestnut mushrooms, sliced) 

1 tbs light soy sauce** 

1 tbs cornflour, mixed with 2 tbs cold water (optional) 

sea salt & ground white pepper 

2 large spring onions, sliced dash sesame oil 

Place all of the meatball ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine. With damp hands, take a large mound of the minced meat mixture and mould into a ball that is a little larger than a golf ball. Place on a plate and repeat with the remaining meatball mixture. 

For the finished dish, pour the groundnut oil into a large deep pan and heat over a high heat. Using a metal ladle, carefully lower each meatball into the oil and spoon some of the oil over the meatballs. 

Cook for 4-5 m, or until golden-brown all over. 

Pour all but 2 tbs of the cooking oil out into a heatproof bowl. Add the stock to the pan and arrange the slices of Chinese cabbage around the meatballs, curving them around the sides of the pan lengthways, then add the mushrooms and soy sauce and bring to the boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and cook gently for 15 m.* 

If the sauce is too thin**, add the cornflour paste and stir until thickened. Take the meatballs off the heat and season, to taste, with sea salt and ground white pepper. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with the spring onions, sprinkle over a dash of sesame oil and serve immediately. 

Serve with sticky white rice. 

 

*Use less liquids for firmer balls. Add some panko if needed. Alternatively, pre-cook the meatballs in the oven; arrange in a casserole dish, cover with kitchen foil and cook in a preheated oven at 100°C for 30 m.

**Use less liquids for a denser sauce. Eventually, add the cornflour mix. Or thicken the sauce in the pan, after removing the meat and vegetables

Kibbeh & fattoush (Lebanese lamb meatballs & bread salad)

For ➍
500 g lamb minced meat
100 g of rucola
4 meat tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 little-gem lettuce rougette
½ lemon
1 flat flat parsley
4 sprigs of mint (fresh)
1 red onion
1 clove of garlic
120 g bulgur
2 pita bread
3 tbs raisins
3 dl vegetable stock (½ cube or 1 ts powder dissolved in 3 dl hot water)
6 tbs olive oil
1 ts ground cumin
1 ts ground coriander
½ ts cinnamon
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
black pepper & salt

Put the bulgur in a bowl and pour over the stock. Cover and simmer for 10 m. Let it cool down.
Cut the red onion and garlic into julienne.
Deseed the tomatoes and cut into pieces.
Cut the unpeeled cucumber into 2, length wise. deseed with a spoon. Cut in 0.5 cm thick slices.
Chop the parsley leaves roughly. Pull the mint leaves from the stalks.
Roast the pita bread in the toaster or in a preheated oven.
Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a pan and glaze the onion and garlic with the cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper and coriander. Mix with the bulgur and the raisins through the lamb meat. Add black pepper and salt. Roll the mixture with your hands into balls. Shape each ball into an oval so that they get the shape of a lemon.
Heat 2 tbs olive oil in a pan and bake the balls golden brown, 4-5 m.
Mix the lettuce leaves with the rucola, the cucumber, the tomatoes, the chopped parsley and the mint leaves.
Squeeze half the lemon (you need 2 tbs of juice). Stir 3 tbs olive oil in and add black pepper and salt. Mix the dressing under the salad.
Trim the pita bread in coarse pieces and mix under the salad.
Serve the baked balls with the salad.

Kibbeh, Arabic for 'balls', can be made from lamb, camel or beef. Sometimes they are covered in mashed potatoes before baking. Serve them while still hot, with a salad, like in this proposition, while or a snack with yogurt (or sour cream) and lime wedges. They can also be served at room temperature and they go great with pita bread, hummus, babaganoush and/or tabbouleh.
Kibbeh look-alikes are calle quibe or kibe in Portuguese. In the Dominican Republic they call it quipe or pipe.
Fattoush is a classic Lebanese bread salad, that can be eaten on its own or with meat.

Boulets liègeoises Lequet (Liège meatballs)

For ➓ meatballs
1 kg of minced pork & beef [avoid to mince the meat too finely].
2 eggs
15 cl milk
½ onion
300 g bread crumbs (or chapelure)
beef fat

1 liter of sauce:
100 g onions
100 g sugar
10 cl white vinegar
400 g Sirop de Liège [*never use a syrup with other ingredients than apples and/or pears]
salt & pepper
½ bay leaf
1 l water
200 g of white roux

Mix the ingredients for the balls. Roll balls with your hands. Dip the balls in beef fat at 160°C for about 15 m. [Caution: do not use the same grease for the frites].
For the sauce, mix all ingredients. Cook 45 m. When the sauce comes to a boil, lower the heat and wait 10 m. Remove the sauce from the heat, and bind with the roux. Pour the balls into the sauce. [The sauce is less liquid on the second day and often better].
Serve with real frites, fresh mayonnaise and a blond Belgian beer.

This is the way Café Lequet serves its famous boulets. Some cooks prefer to cook the balls in the oven. Try this with this sauce with some flour added.

Buran (Baghdad meatballs)

For ➍
500 g eggplant
500 g ground lamb*
25 cl yogurt
2 tbs butter
3 tbs sesame oil
2 cloves garlic
¼ ts coriander
½ ts salt
½ ts cumin
1 ts cinnamon

Cut eggplants in thick slices, put in boiling salted water (1.5 l water with 6 tbs of salt) for 7 m. Remove, let stand 1 h.
Roll meat into small meatballs. Fry in butter. When browned, cover with water and simmer.
Fry eggplant in sesame oil until cooked. Peel, mash, add salt and coriander.
Crush garlic, add to yogurt, mix with eggplant. Put the meatballs on top, sprinkle with cumin and cinnamon.
Serve with some basmati rice or flat bread. Have some sliced oranges as a side dish to counter the garlic smell.

*When using beef meat, add some cinnamon.

This is a slightly adapted Persian recipe from around the 10th century, named after the bride of an Arab caliph in 822.
Almost the same recipe exists in Italy, as a traditional Passover dish, lamb meatballs with eggplant sauce.

Vlaamse kippensoep (Flemish chicken soup)

For ➏
3 chicken thighs
2 onions, chopped coarsely
2 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
3 carrots
2 leeks, chopped coarsely (keep 1 stem apart)
1 celery, chopped coarsely (keep a few stalks apart)
2 sprigs of thyme
3 bay leaves
5 crushed peppercorns
2 cloves
1 piece star anise
3 l water
50 g alphabet or vermicelli pasta or rice
200 g minced meat*
flour*

Clean the celery and leeks under running water.
Peel the carrots and cut ⅔ of them coarsely. Keep the rest aside.
Pour cold water into the soup pot. Add the vegetables along with the thyme and bay leaves . Bring the soup to a boil.
Crush the peppercorns in a mortar and put them in the pot, along with a pinch of salt .
Add the cloves and star anise.
Add the chicken thighs when the soup is boiling.
Let the soup simmer for 30-45 m.
Meanwhile cut the left carrots, leek and celery in brunoise , tiny cubes of approximately 2 x 2 mm.
Put the diced vegetables in a bowl.
Strain the chicken soup, to have a clear chicken broth. Let the thighs cool.
Sprinkle the brunoise vegetables in the chicken stock. Let the vegetables yarn briefly. Avoid overcooking.
Add the letter pasta. (Check the packaging for correct cooking time.)
Tear the meat  from the thighs. Cut into small pieces of equal size.
Add the chicken to the soup. Season the soup.
Serve with brown bread or toast.

*Optional.

Königsberger Klopse (German meatballs)

For ➍
meatballs:
150 g ground sirloin
150 g ground pork
150 g ground veal
1 large egg, slightly beaten
60 g fine plain breadcrumbs
5 cl milk
⅓ medium white onion, finely chopped
zest of ⅓ lemon, finely chopped
juice of ⅓ lemon
1 tbs capers, chopped
1 tbs anchovy paste or 1 tbs crushed anchovy fillets (or sardines or herring)
20 g melted butter
⅓ ts sea salt
¼ ts ground black pepper
flour (for rolling)
broth
3 dl chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
2 cl cider vinegar
4 cl dry white wine
3 black peppercorns
1 tbs capers
sauce
zest of ⅓ lemon, small finely chopped
juice of ⅓ lemon
1 dl sour cream
1-2 tbs snipped fresh parsley, for garnish

In a large saucepan, heat broth ingredients (stock, bay leaf, cider vinegar, white wine, peppercorns, and 2 tbs capers) to a simmer over medium heat.
Meanwhile, combine meatball ingredients, mix well.
Form meat mixture into golf-ball sized balls. Roll them in flour, and carefully place into hot broth; simmer each batch (10-12) for 15 m, but do not boil. The broth will thicken as you add the flour covered meatballs, which will make a nice sauce.
Carefully remove meatballs from the hot broth with a slotted spoon, and keep them warm in a covered bowl stored in the oven while making the sauce. Discard bay leaf.
To hot broth, stir in the sauce ingredients and heat through, but do not boil.
Add the cooked meatballs to the heated sauce, stir gently and warm through.
Serve meatballs and cream sauce with boiled new potatoes (Salzkartoffel) or hot buttered spätzle noodles and German red cabbage. Sprinkle with snipped fresh parsley, for garnish.

*To serve as an appetizer, make the meatballs smaller and serve warm with toothpicks, buttered rolls and potato salad.

Predecessors of the Königsberger Klopse date back to the Middle Ages. The Prussian name Klops (meat dumpling) didn't originate until the 18th century, when Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia, today known as Kaliningrad in Russia.

Boulets à la Liègeoise (Liège meatballs)

For ➍
1 kg minced meat, pork & beef
2 eggs
3 large onions
handful of parsley
4 slices of white bread, slightly stale
20 cl cold milk
50 g butter

Remove crust from bread. Put the bread in a deep plate. Cover with cold milk.
Chop onions.
In a skillet, heat butter and melt the onions for 5 m. Cool for a few m.
Put the minced meat in a bowl. Add the onions. Mix with a fork.
Stir 2 egg yolks. Keep the whites for another use.
Take the bread. Press it into a ball to discard the milk.
Mix the bread and the meat.
Chop the parsley and add to the mixture.
Make 9 to 10 meatballs
Lightly grease a baking dish.
Place the balls in the dish.
Place the dish with balls in a 180°C preheated oven for 40 m.
Serve with sauce à la Liègeoise and frites. Drink a blond Belgium beer with it.

For the Café Lequet version.

Sauce à la Liègeoise (Liège syrup sauce)

For ➍
4 onions chopped
3 tbs sirop de Liège*
50 g butter
1 tbs flour or cornstarch
salt & pepper
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 ts marjoram

Melt the butter in a skillet and sauté the chopped onion, 1 to 2 m. Add 5 ml water and cook 5 m on medium heat, while stirring (onions should not brown).
Mix flour and 20 cl of hot water.
Pour over onions and cook 2 to 3 m.
Add the sirop and spices.
Mix well and simmer 20 m on low heat to make the sauce thick and shiny.
Serve with boulettes à la Liègoise.

*Another Belgian fruit spread, based on pears, might do.

Café Lequet serves its meatballs with a slightly different sauce.
The sirop de Liège is a highly concentrated fruit syrup, made from fruit from the the massive fruit plantations in the Limburg and Liège provinces. The Meurens company in Aubel, near Liège, has produced fruit syrops since 1902 in the rural tradition of the Pays de Herve. The final recipe was developed in 1937, and registered in 1947 as le vrai sirop de Liège, the box showing the blossoming pear trees of Aubel. The sirop is made of pears, apples and dates, 400 g of fruit for 100 g of syrup, 700 g for the version with no sugar added.

Mumbai seekh kabob (a Mumbai street sandwich)

For ➍
600 g ground lamb or beef
2 ts fresh ground garlic
1 ts fresh ground ginger
1 ts salt
2 tbs plain yogurt
½ ts cayenne pepper
5 sprigs coriander, finely chopped
1 onion, peeled & finely chopped

With moistened hands, combine and mix all ingredients.

Wet hands. Take a small amount of meat mixture and wrap around a skewer. Keep adding and shaping meat mixture around the skewer into a 25 cm long kabob*. Continue this process until all of the meat mixture is used. Broil for 10 m, turning to brown all sides.**

Garnish with tomato wedges and onion rings. For a spicier taste, add a finely chopped green jalapeno pepper.

*Or roll into meatballs. The meatballs can then be served inside a freshly roasted bum, with some tomato, onion and pepper.
**Or put it in a tandoori oven.

Served in a bun, this is one of the favourite snacks sold in the Muslim streets of Mumbai. At home, it can also be served with spinach.
Add a kind of pesto sauce by crushing an onion, some cardamom and coriander in a food processor.
Picture shows Kalbadevi, one of the most populated sections of Mumbai around 1890.

Ballekes met krieken (Flemish meat patties with sour cherries)

For ➍
800 g minced meat*
1 slice white bread, crumbled
1 egg yolk
500 g sour cherries** with 30 cl juice, bottled or canned
40 cl meat stock
100 g butter
a small glass of jenever/gin***
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 200°C. Moisten the bread crumbs with a tbs of cherry juice. Drain and mix with meat and egg yolk. Avoid that the mix becomes too wet. Roll into 8 balls and flatten to patties.

Butter an oven dish, large enough to fit the patties. Put in oven and bake for 5 m. Pour in the stock and the cherry juice. Cook for about 45 m. Remove patties and keep warm. Pour cooking liquids in a pan and reduce until halved. Put in the cherries and heat for 5 m. Add the patties and reheat. (Add salt & pepper, if necessary).

Serve with mashed potatoes.

* A mix of pork and veal. (Add an exotic flavour by using spicy lamb's meat from merguez.)
**Tart cherries, canned or bottled
***Obviously, this should be good Belgian jenever, but a drop of good gin will do. Or you could omit it ;-).

Read tip on minced meat & salt Or a tip on replacing a part of the meat with mushrooms.

Kottbullar (Swedish meatballs)

For ➍ 250 g minced beef 250 g minced pork 1 egg 250 cl cream & water 2.5 tbs finely chopped onion 1 tbs unsweetened rusk crumbs (or crumbled dry bread/biscuits) 2 cold boiled potatoes 4 tbs butter, margarine or oil salt & pepper

Heat the onion till golden in a couple of tablespoons of lightly browned butter.

Mash the potatoes and moisten the flour in a little water. Mix all the ingredients until there is consistency and flavour generously with salt, white pepper and a little finely crushed allspice. Use a pair of spoons to shape the mixture into relatively large, round balls and transfer to a floured chopping board. Fry them slowly in plenty of butter.

Serve with the Swedish cream sauce, freshly boiled potatoes, lingonberry (or red berry) jam and salad.

The traditional recipe of köttbullar, Swedish meatballs, was made popular all over the world in the Ikea restaurants. And much easier to assemble.

Bob Dylan's perfect meatballs

For ➍
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbs vegetable oil (for frying)
250 g ground meat (equal parts beef, pork, veal)
4 tbs Parmigiano cheese, grated
9 crackers, finely crushed*
½ ts salt
black pepper
oregano
dried basil
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
4 tbs water
1 egg**
1 ts tomato paste

“Heat the oil over a low heat in a large Dutch oven***. In a big bowl, add the meat, garlic, cheese, crackers, and spices. Mix lightly with your fingers. Don’t be shy, get into it.

In a small bowl, whisk the water, the egg, and the tomato paste.

Add the egg mixture to the meat mixture. Mix it lightly with your fingers. Form it into drum shapes, or balls.****

Cook in batches, over medium high heat, until it is browned on both sides. That will be about five minutes total. Serve ‘em up with some potatoes, or some spaghetti, or just make a sandwich out of them. You're gonna love 'em.****" (Transcript from Dylan's Radio Hour show).

*Use old bread crumbs instead.
**Use only yolk to make firmer balls.
***When using a preheated oven, make an ersatz Dutch oven by folding aluminium foil under and around the balls. Bake for 25 m at 185°C for the spoon-sized balls, 20 m for the medium balls. Otherwise, use a deep frying pan.
****Use 2 overlapping tbs to make a ball, then roll it in your hands. This will make about 10 large-sized or, when cut in 2, 20 medium balls.

In the wonderful radio show, Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, the host not only explored the music he loves and was influenced by, but also dished up some basic recipes, like these tasty meatballs. The recipe seems to be influenced by local Minnesota cooking.
Read more Bob Dylan suggestions: Bob Dylan's finest mint julep,  his mother's fudge bars here.

Kesksou belfoul (couscous with veal meatballs & broad beans)

For ➍
400 g fresh broad beans, cut
ground ginger
1 ts saffron
4 onions
400 g veal meat, minced*
5 slices of bread
1 bush of parsley
2 bushes of coriander
1 egg
1 ts cumin powder
1 ts cinnamon
2 tbs pistachio nuts (not salted), peeled/pistachio kernels**
salt & black pepper

Grate 2 onions, chop the parsley and 1 bush of coriander. Soak 5 slices of bread in water or milk. Press them dry. Mix onions, parsley, bread, meat, egg, ½ ts of cumin, 1 ts of cinnamon, 2 tbs of pistachio nuts**, salt & pepper. Roll the meatballs with wet hands.

Cut 2 large onions. Heat oil in the lower part of the couscoussière (or a deep skillet like a steamer). Add onions, black pepper, 1½ ts of ginger, 1 ts of saffron, 1 bush of coriander and salt. Sauté on low fire. Add 2 l of water (or enough to contain meatballs and beans).

When the broth is boiling, put in the meatballs. Boil for 20 m.

Put the couscous*** on top in the steaming pan. Cover.****

After 10 m, add the broad beans to the broth. Cover.

When ready, put the couscous on a plate.***** Decorate with meatballs and beans.

Serve broth in a separate bowl.

*Use chopped veal instead of meatballs. Cut into chunks, add to the onions, and braise. Add 2 l of water.
**Use pine nuts instead.
***Moisten couscous the traditional way before steaming, or use precooked. Remove couscous when ready.
****Or: steam couscous in another steamer or, when using precooked, add some of the broth to moisten the couscous.
*****Mix ½ tbs of butter through the couscous.

The secret ingredients of these meatballs are pistachio nuts. Native to Persia, their cultivation was spread by the Islamic conquest of the Mediterranean, and used in luxurious sweets. They add an unexpected taste and crunchy bite to the meatballs.

Swedish cream sauce

For ➍ 

10 cl cream 

20 cl beef stock 

1 tbs soy sauce 

1 tbs white flour* 

salt & white pepper

   

Bring beef stock to a boil in a pan.

Add cream. Thicken with white flour*.

Add soy sauce to taste. Season well with salt and pepper.

Serve with Swedish meatballs.**

*Optional 

**Serve with pork chunks instead.

American mushroom gravy

For ➏
1 tbs vegetable oil
2 tbs all-purpose flour*
25 cl beef broth
5 cl dry white wine or water
200 g white mushrooms, cleaned & sliced thin
1 ts chopped fresh rosemary, or ½ ts dried rosemary leaves, crumbled
¼ ts salt
¼ ts ground black pepper
sprigs of fresh rosemary for garnish**

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk for 2 to 4 m, or until a dark golden color.

Slowly whisk in the broth and wine, then the mushrooms, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 to 15 m, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

*Avoid the flour by mixing the ingredients and reducing it on high heat. It will be more like a sauce than a gravy.
**Optional.
***Double the ingredients and freeze the half of it. Warm gently.
****This gravy will suit roasted beef, chicken or meat loaf.

Mititei (Romanian minced meat rolls)

For ➍
250 g coarsely minced pork
250 g coarsely minced beef or lamb
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
½ ts harissa
1 ts sweet paprika
1 ts cayenne pepper
1 ts thyme
½ ts baking powder
1 ts ground caraway seeds or cumin
1 ts marjoram
salt & freshly ground black pepper
½ ts allspice*
meat, chicken or vegetable stock, for basting*
1 tbs olive oil

Combine all the ingredients, apart from the olive oil and stock, together in a large mixing bowl. Knead together for 5 m. (Cover and refrigerate for 5 h to enhance the flavour.*) Wet your hands and divide the mixture into handpalm-sized balls, then roll into small sausages of about 10 cm long.

Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed frying pan or griddle. Cook the sausages over a medium heat for 20-30 m. Turn them several times during cooking and baste with a little stock to keep them moist*.

Serve with mustard as a snack (with drinks). Serve with a salad of sliced peppers or/and cabbage or potatoes as a small meal.

*Optional.

This is a national Romanian dish, similar to Balkan cevapcici.
Read tip on minced meat & salt

Lamb meatballs with eggplant sauce

For ➍
meatballs:
500 g ground lamb
½ tbs salt
½ tbs freshly ground black pepper
½ ts ground nutmeg
¼ ts cayenne pepper
5 tbs chopped parsley
5 tbs chopped fresh mint
½ onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs tomato concentrate
5 tbs pine nuts
sauce:
2 eggplants
3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
3 onions, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, & chopped
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. With wet hands, shape into walnut-sized balls.

Preheat the broiler*. Pierce the eggplants with a fork. Place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Broil until tender and the skin is charred all over, turning once, about 15 m. Slit the eggplants in half lengthwise and let the steam out. Scoop out the flesh and let it drain in a colander.

Heat the olive oil in a deep, wide pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook until wilted.

Stir in the tomatoes and eggplant, season with salt and pepper and cover partially. Simmer 30 m, or until the eggplants have formed a thick, rich sauce.

Serve with some firm pasta al dente. Roasted peppers and/or artichokes cooked in lemon juice**, make good side dishes.

*Use grill instead.
**Use preserved artichokes instead. Drain oil, warm them a little, and sprinkle with fresh lemon juice.

Based on a traditional Italian Jewish Passover dish, this recipe bears a strong resemblance to the Middle Eastern Buran (Baghdad meatballs) recipe.
The image background shows the ghetto in Rome.

American-Italian spaghetti with meatballs & tomato sauce

For ➍
400 g spaghetti (fresh, if possible)
2 l water
2 tbs olive oil
salt
sauce:
400 g tomato puree*
170 g tomato pasta*
450 g diced tomatoes (canned)*
3 cloves garlic
1 medium yellow onion
1 bay leaf
1 ts dried basil
3 ts dried oregano
2 tbs fresh parsley
½ ts garlic powder
½ ts chili powder
5 tbs olive oil
15 cl red wine (e.g. Chianti)
sugar
salt & pepper
2 thin pork chops (400 g)
some butter
meatballs:
450 g ground beef
1 egg
1½ slice dark bread with crust
3 tbs bread crumbs
5 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
25 g Parmigiano cheese
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ tbs red wine
1 tbs sweet basil
1 ts garlic powder
salt & coarse black pepper
butter

Put ground beef in a large bowl. Add parsley. Break 1 egg into bowl. Add garlic. Add Parmigiano.

Wet pieces of bread**. Squeeze water out. Break the bread into the bowl. Add bread crumbs.

Add coarse black pepper, salt, garlic powder, red wine and 1 tbs of basil. Mix all the ingredients for 3 m. Put in refrigerator for 30 m.

Pour oil in a saucepan to cover the bottom. Finely chop cloves of garlic. Add to the cold oil.

Finely chop medium size onion.

Put the oil with the garlic on medium heat. Heat until you see little bubbles around the garlic. Add the chopped onions and lower the heat to medium low. Simmer for 5 m. Add 1 ts oregano, ½ ts basil, a dash of salt and pepper. Mix well.

Add tomato paste. Fill empty can with water. Add to the sauce.

Set heat to medium. Stir and simmer for 4 m. Add a touch of salt, black pepper and ½ ts of oregano.

Add can of diced tomatoes. Fill can with water about half way, and add to the sauce. Stir and simmer for 10 m. Add 1 ts oregano, ½ ts basil, 1 tbs chopped parsley, just a dash of chili powder, ½ ts garlic powder and a dash of black pepper.

Add tomato puree. Mix well. Fill can up with water about ¾ full and add this to the sauce.

Add 1 ts oregano, 1 tbs parsley, ½ ts of basil and ½ ts of garlic powder. Mix well.

Keep at medium heat and cover pan. Add 15 cl red wine and mix well. Let simmer for 15 m.

Drop in 1 bay leaf.

Fry 2 thin pork chops in a pan with a little butter. Continue on low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, turn up the heat to high and sear the chops for about 2 m on each side to brown. Add to the sauce. Keep simmering. Stir frequently.

Roll the meatballs' mix into 2.5 cm balls (with wet hands).

Heat butter in a very hot pan and sear the balls.

Add 2 ts of sugar to the sauce. Put in the meatballs. Cover and simmer for 30 m.

When ready, let stand covered for 1 or 2 h.***

Boil spaghetti in salted water with 2 tbs of olive oil.

Heat the sauce for 10 m. Take out the pork chops and cut into big chunks. Take out the balls.

Put spaghetti on a plate. Add some meat. Serve sauce in a bowl****.

Serve with a strong Italian wine.

*You can double tomato quantities to get 8 servings. Remove half of the sauce before putting in any meat and freeze. When reheating, add meat and finish the sauce as in recipe. Tomato paste is double concentrated tomato puree, slightly caramelized (if possible home made).
**You can put bread in 3 tbs of milk instead.
***Spoon off any excess fat.
****You can freeze the rest of the sauce for a few days. Do not leave any meat in the sauce when freezing.

Illustration of the most famous spaghetti dinner ever, from Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp movie.
While a classic duo now, tomatoes did not meet pasta until the early 1800's when Neapolitan street-sellers sold a ready made sauce to accompany the new dry factory-made pasta. Meat was very rare, and it was only when Italian migrants came to America that they could afford it. This kind of dish was way too expensive for most Italians in Italy, so the migrants created a phantasm come true (according to John Dickie's delightful Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food) with meat and sauce, worth of the Disney dream factory.
More American-Italian hybrids: fettuccine Alfredo, spaghetti alla puttanesca, chicken Marsala, white pizza.
Read more spaghetti & linguine recipes: a quick spaghetti, spaghetti with scallops & tomatoes, scallops & rucola spaghetti, spaghetti alla carbonara, spaghetti with vegetables, shrimps fra diavolo, raw tomato spaghetti, spaghetti with clams, spaghetti with small clams, spaghetti with oil & garlic, spaghetti alla puttanesca, Palermo spaghetti with tomatoes & mint, vermicelli with parsley sauce, shrimps & Brie linguine, butter & tomato pasta sauce, lemon pasta with sea spinach.

tip: cooking large meatballs

For ➍
750 g minced meat (pork & veal)
1 egg
1 onion, chopped

Preheat oven to 170°C.
Chop the onion finely and mix with the egg through the minced meat. Roll four balls and pass them through the breadcrumbs.
Place the balls on a baking tray and cook for about 30 m.

The less extras, the better. Just use egg, salt, pepper and some spices, and bread crumbs for a crust.
For bigger balls, add some veal minced meat for stability and strength.
Process minced meat cold. The fat forms small hard lumps, which only melt when you cook the meat.
Wet your hands slightly wet before rolling a a ball.
It is hard to keep meatballs  round, when baking in a pan. Put the balls in the fridge for a while. Then bake them in the oven. At the end fry them briefly in the pan.
Meat is cooked when the juices are clear.
A basic sauce can be made by pouring the fat out of the pan, add some brown beer and stock. Bring to a boil. Thicken the sauce at the end with lumps of cold butter.

Read more tips.
Read more meatballs recipes.

tip: meat in a skillet

approximate times

beef:

steaks: 1-3 m per side*

tournedos: 1-3 m per side*

burger: 1-3 m per side

meatball: 15-20 m

roast: 15-20 m per 500 g

pork:

cutlets: 3-4 m per side

fillet: 4-5 m per side

chops: 6-10 m per side

kebab: 3-5 m

roast: 30 m per 500 g

roulades: 15 m

sausages: 15 min

meatball: 15-20 m

lamb:

tenderloin: 2 m per side

chops: 3-4 per side

roast: 25-30 m

meatball: 10-15 m

kebab: 3-4 m

Fry small pieces of tender meat in butter, margarine or a mixture of oil and butter. The skillet should be just large enough to contain the meat to avoid stewing and burning of the fats. Make sure the meat is at room temperature, brown quickly on all sides. Pork should always be well cooked, beef and lamb might be rosy or well done.*

Heat the pan and let a knob of butter or suet to melt. When the fat stops foaming, put the meat in the pan. Sear the meat on both sides. Lower temperature.

Let the meat rest for a few m after cooking.

*The baking time of beef depends on thickness and how the meat is cooked. A 3 cm thick steak will be saignant in 4 m. 6 m will result in à point (medium), bien cuit needs 9-10 m.

Read more tips. Read tips on cooking meat in the oven, on grilling and broiling in the oven.
Read more meat recipes.