Soft Baked Beef Meatballs
These are simple, very tender beef meatballs cooked straight in tomato sauce — no browning, no frying, no extra pan. An indulgent comfort food dinner that is guaranteed to make you feel grounded and nourished.
You can serve this one with pasta or polenta, however I find all it needs is some steamed greens, since the meatballs and sauce themselves are naturally rich and filling. Feel free to grate over some cheese and a sprinkle of parsley too.
This keeps well and can be reheated in the oven with ease. You can even add some stretchy mozzarella the second night.
I recommend making the meatballs in advance, I do mine at lunchtime and store them in the fridge until I’m ready to make dinner. It’s the most labour intensive part. But it’s so worth it!
The grated potato is the important bit here. A trick I learnt from Helen Tzouganatos. It keeps the meatballs soft and juicy without breadcrumbs, but you want it very finely grated, almost to a paste, rather than visibly shredded. I use a mini food processor but the fine side of a box grater or a Microplane works too.
Serves:
8
Prep time:
25 minutes
Cook time:
60 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Meatballs
- 1 large brown or red onion, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 white potatoes, about 380–400g total, peeled
- 1kg beef mince, preferably not lean
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or fine sea salt
Tomato Sauce
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 x 700g jar passata
- A few sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked (optional)
- 250ml water
- Salt and pepper, to taste
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
- Cut the peeled potatoes into chunks and add to a mini food processor. Blend until they form a very fine, wet paste — you don’t want any visible chunks or shreds. Transfer to cheesecloth or a clean tea towel and squeeze firmly to remove as much liquid as possible. Alternatively, finely grate the potato using a Microplane or the finest side of a box grater, then squeeze well.
- Add the drained potato to a large bowl with the beef mince, onion, garlic, oregano, egg, parsley and salt. Mix gently with your hands until just combined, then roll into meatballs. Set aside until ready to use.
- To make the sauce, heat a generous drizzle of olive oil in a large ovenproof shallow casserole (see note below for other options). Add the onion and cook until softened, then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the passata. Pour 1 cup of water into the empty passata jar, put the lid on, shake well, then pour into the pan. Add the oregano, if using, and season with salt and pepper
- Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and cook for 15–30 minutes.
- Nestle the raw meatballs directly into the sauce, then transfer the pan to the oven.
- Bake, uncovered, for 35–40 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce is rich and bubbling.
Notes
- I use a large cast iron shallow casserole to make this dish. If you don't have an oven-safe dish like this, you can make the sauce in any medium pot or pan, and transfer to a large oven safe baking dish before plunging in the raw meatballs.
- This recipe can easily be halved. You can still use one whole egg even if the recipe is halved.
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