Home made comfort food - just what we need!

Comfort food - home made meatballs in tomato sauce - yum!  That's what Hubby and I had for our tea (what us Scots call dinner) on Friday evening.

You don't need a lot to make this dish. I used up half a pack of minced pork that I had in the freezer.  (To be honest, I much prefer my meatballs made with pork sausagemeat.).  In a big bowl I mixed it with finely chopped onion, grated carrot and some breadcrumbs (also from the freezer).  

Also added an egg to bind them together and some salt and pepper.  I rolled the mixture into balls, shoogled them in a bit of flower and put them on a baking sheet in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes.

While they were cooking I made the tomato sauce.  I cut some lean smoked bacon in to small pieces and fried them in olive oil - this adds a lovely smoky flavour to your sauce.  To the pot I then added finely chopped onion, carrot and celery.  I let this cook for a wee while then added some flour, mixed well and allowed to cook.  

Then it was time for a  couple of glugs of red wine - used this to get all the lovely sediment at the bottom of the pot.  Once this was done I added a tin of chopped tomatoes, a chopped red pepper, crushed garlic, a dod of tomato puree, chopped basil and a teaspoon of sugar.  

Stirred well, seasoned and simmered for half an hour or so, this sauce is so easy and tastes delicious. It is also much better if you cook it either the day before or earlier in the day you wish to have it. Once cooked I took out half to freeze.

Cooking done well before lunch time, all I had to do when Hubby got home was to cook some pasta, reheat the sauce and meatballs, grate some Parmesan cheese and pour the wine.

We had this lovely meal with a side salad and some garlic bread.  Delicious!  Best of all I've got the other half in the freezer to have another night!

Love, Liz