Pappardelle
with
meatballs
in roasted tomato sauce
It’s time to pull out all your pots and pans, and get your kitchen smelling like an Italian nonna’s!
​
Pappardelle is a flat, broad ribboned variety of pasta. The name derives from the verb “pappare” - to gobble up. It works well in sauce based pasta dishes. You can also use other ribboned variety of pasta like fettuccine, tagliatelle, spaghetti, etc.
​
For this recipe you can either make your own pasta or use ready-to-boil varieties. You can find my recipe to make handmade pasta here.
3 hours Serves 3-4
Roasted tomato sauce
5 large tomatoes
1 large onion
1 garlic bulb
1 carrot
1 large stalk of celery
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Water (to adjust consistency)
¾ cup mixed sprouts/lentils (optional)
handful of fresh parsley and basil, chopped
You will need:
-
Preheat your oven to 200°C
-
Chop up all the vegetables into large chunks and scatter them in a baking tray, along with rosemary sprigs.
-
Drizzle over oil and season with little salt. Mix with your hands to coat everything.
-
Roast the vegetables for 35-40 minutes until they have a golden brown char. Once roasted, take them out of the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
-
Transfer vegetables into a food processor and blend to form a smooth puree. Add a little water to the baking pan and use the pan juices to loosen the sauce.
-
Transfer the puree into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add in all of the herbs and seasonings. (remaining salt, black pepper, bay leaf, oregano, chilli flakes, sugar, worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar) I added some sprouts at this stage to make it a bit more filling, but you can surely leave it out if you want.
-
Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Use a little water to adjust the consistency of the sauce. Add in freshly chopped basil and parsley before serving.
Roasted chicken meatballs
300 g chicken mince
1 small egg
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
½tsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp barbecue sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup mozzarella, grated
-
Mix together all the ingredients and form golf ball sized meatballs. Oil your hands to prevent the mixture from sticking. Place the meatballs in a well oiled baking tray.
-
In a preheated oven, bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes.
-
Remove the tray from the oven and coat meatballs with a little bit of your prepared tomato sauce. Sprinkle over some grated mozzarella.
-
Turn oven up to 220°C and bake for 3-4 minutes until the cheese has melted.
​
Note:
The meatballs develop a better flavour if you let the mixture marinate for a couple of hours or even overnight.
​
Assembly:
-
Cook your pasta in salted boiling water.
-
Reserve some of the cooking liquid in a cup and drain out the remaining.​
-
Transfer pasta to a mixing bowl; add in the tomato sauce and a few basil leaves. Mix gently and use some of the cooking liquid to loosen up the pasta.
-
Serve with the pasta with a couple of those delicious roasted meatballs on top, a drizzle of olive oil and some basil.
​
Here are some photos from the process:
Making fresh pasta!
Meatball mixture