Trifle and Meatballs (not necessarily in that order)

So, a new one.

I have made meatballs before, but this recipe is the best so far, not to mention cheap.

It originated in the famous Italian restaurant in New York called Rao's and I got it from Ina Garten's book 'Family Style'. A book well worth having if cooking and eating together as a family is important to you. I haven't seen it in bookshops but it's available on Amazon.

Anyhow. We made the trifle first.

This is not an Irish Sherry trifle with jelly etc. Although I do love a nice jelly trifle, this is an English trifle and you can eat it pretty much straight away.

You need

2 shop bought Madeira cakes

Jar of Raspberry jam

1 or 2 punnets of raspberries. 

2 cartons of custard

2 tubs of whipped cream

Of course you could use home made custard and whip the cream yourself and use a nice homemade orange or lemon pound cake, but this is as easy as it gets as far as pudding is concerned, it's quick and the kids can do the whole thing. 

Slice the madeira cake into 2 cm slices and spread thickly with the jam. Layer 3 or 4 slices on the bottom of a glass dish, jam side up, and sprinkle on a handful of raspberries. Pour on some custard and dollop on a few tablespoons of whipped cream. Repeat the process again, putting another 4 slices of jam laced cake, raspberries, custard and cream. 

Continue until you fill the bowl or run out of ingreadients. Try and spread the raspberries out so you can throw a few on top. Finish off with a layer of cream and put in the fridge until ready to serve. (if it lasts that long!)

If you like you can lace the sponge with a little booze;  Cointreau, Sherry or raspberry liqueur.  Although, that is not the most kid friendly option!

Spaghetti and Meatballs 

Serves 6 adults and 4 kids with leftovers!

(Having cup measures here makes it quicker and easier)

For the meatballs, 

In a bowl, mix 500g minced pork and 500g minced beef with 2 cup/250g of breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, 1 cup /200g of  finely grated parmesan (use fresh stuff) pinch of grated nutmeg, 2 eggs beaten, 4 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon of pepper. Then add the magic ingredient, 100ml / 1/2 cup of warm water.

Fork the mixture until combined, this keeps it light, as opposed to mixing it with your hand which would make the meatballs quite dense. Form them into golf ball sized balls, I use a tablespoon measure to make sure they are about the same size.

Fry the meatballs in batches of 4 or 5 in a pot, in a fairly deep layer of oil. It needs to be about a cm deep anyway.  I used half and half olive oil to sunflower. Heat the oil on a high medium heat and just fry the meatballs until browned but not cooked through. you should need to turn them after 30 secs, 1 min at the longest. Be careful with them as they are delicate. Use a tongs that is cupped or use a fish slice.

Leave on a plate to one side until the sauce is cooked.

Drain off the oil, but keep the bits in the bottom for flavour.

Sauce

Saute a  chopped onion and 6 cloves of garlic crushed, in the same pot with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and scrape off the bits on the pot as you do. When they are softened a little, add 1 cup / 250ml red wine and cook on a high heat until the wine boils off. Add then, 4 tins of chopped tomatoes, 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley and oregano (fresh, don't bother with the dried stuff) salt and pepper and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

Allow to simmer and add the meatballs back in. Gently cover the meatballs with the sauce, cover the pot and cook on the lowest heat for 25 minutes.

Serve with spaghetti or linguini  (500g serves 6) and sprinkle with parmesan

When I say use fresh parmesan, I really mean it. It's like the difference between frozen burgers and fillet steak. There is not much of a difference price wise and fresh parmesan lasts for ages. 

Also, fresh herbs are really crucial here. I always think the dried stuff is like the contents of a hoover. Growing parsley has not always been successful for me, but it is possible. Anyhow it's available everywhere, and if you have basil or chives, or any other leafy herb combo, it'd do the trick here. 

I have discovered, in the salad section of the supermarket, little tubes of schwartz fresh herbs. They are minced and liquidy, but i've used them twice and they are not bad. It is a good alternative if you are stuck. Expensive for what you get, but at least there is no waste.

I best go now and enjoy the lemon sponge Daniel has made for Mother's day! I'll let you know how it went. It looks delish!!