Spaghetti and meatballs is a real crowd pleaser of a dinner, but whether you can be arsed to sit rolling mince into lots of little balls mid-week is quite another matter. This dish, which essentially involves chopped up sausages, browned and simmered in tomato sauce, sounds like a rather crude version of a classic, but seriously, don't knock it until you've tried it, as it is really rather delicious and very easy.
Cutting up the sausages raw and then frying them allows them to brown and crisp just like meatballs, and the pork flavour that seeps into the tomatoes whilst cooking lends the sauce a tasty, rich flavour.
I would strongly recommend using a good quality sausage in this dish; a greasy spoon fry-up it aint, and offal sausages will spoil it. It is worth going for something with at least 80% pork, and even a flavoured sausage such as chilli and tomato.
Ingredients (serves 4)
6 good quality pork sausages
300g dried spaghetti
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 red pepper (finely chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
Directions
Firstly out a pan of water onto boil for the pasta. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and garlic on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until it begins to become translucent. Add the sausages and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Add the pepper, increase the heat and fry for a further 5 minutes until the sausages are browned.
Add the spaghetti to the pan of boiling water and cook according to packet instructions.
Add the tomatoes to the sausages and simmer on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes while the pasta cooks.
Season the sauce and serve over piles of spaghetti.
Image via Monica's Diary