FLOWER POT KITCHEN: MEATBALLS MARINARA MAKE AHEAD DINNERS

7 Feb 2018

MEATBALLS MARINARA MAKE AHEAD DINNERS

Top Family Dinner Ready To Go From The Freezer

An all time family favourite sumptuous beef meatballs baked then finished off in my five family's Italian marinara sauce that will leave your spoon going back for more even when you belly says enough! To be even more decedent we love to finish this off with a generous helping of gooey melted cheese pull mozeralla or salty Parmesan cheese.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 30 minutes (3hrs sauce simmering time if you can)

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Beef Balls

1 kg chuck steak beef

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp crushed red chillies

1/2 tsp mexin chilli powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

1/4 cup ground flaxseed (optional) breadcrumbs instead

1 drizzle olive oil

Five Familes Marinara

1 onion finely sliced

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 glug olive oil

1 glass red wine

1 glass white wine

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Himalayan sea salt

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 bunch fresh parsley (optional)

Five Families Sauce

If you can make the sauce earlier in the day and simmer really gently for up to three hours or even the day before it will be even more gorgeous as it marinates. Heat the olive oil medium hot, add the onions and garlic and soften for around ten minutes, add the wine and reduce by a third, add the tomatoes, oregano and leave to gently simmer for 20 minutes if in a hurry or up to three hours ticking away developing a deeper rich flavour, and even better the day before.

Meatballs

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees C / 370 degrees F. Mix all the ingredients in to the chuck steak mince evenly I use ground flaxseed over breadcrumbs as a binder, because it's loaded with omega 3 & 6 and paleo, divide in to golf ball size balls, place in a roasting tray, drizzle olive oil over the balls and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Finish The Dish

Once the meatballs are cooked, transfer the meatballs and cooking juices in to the marinara sauce, leave to gently simmer, you can serve immediately now but this is where more time can make all the difference for deeper flavour, I make the marinara ahead of time, add the cooked meatballs and cooking juices and then leave to gently simmer away for around an hour then take off the heat and leave to rest for an hour or more, then re heat for my family's dinner when required, finish with the parsley and a generous helping of cheese sprinkled over the top. This is such a flexible recipe, super fast or slow with added depth of flavour, but in all a honest dinner on the table, full bellies and family time is the most important task on a busy family night!

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.