Janice Tripepi submitted her husband Riccardo’s traditional ‘meat-a-ball’ recipe to secure a place in our top five family recipes in the country. She says, “This is such a simple Italian favourite; it’s inexpensive but each little meatball is made with love. We eat them to celebrate birthdays, christenings, good days and even those sad days when we say goodbye to special people. Food should be shared with love - and pasta is the universal language of culinary love.”
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
In a heavy bottomed pot, brown the garlic and chilli, then add the onion and brown. Add the carrot and celery and give it a stir to combine the flavours.
Cover the mixture with dry white wine and cook off all of the alcohol. Add fresh tomatoes and bring to the boil, then add the squished tomatoes and bring to the boil.
Pop in your meatballs and simmer on a medium heat for as long as possible – at least an hour. If you can make this a day in advance it’s even better! (All pasta sauces benefit from a night in the fridge.)
When your sauce is cooked the oil will rise to the surface and be clear and red as opposed to orange and foamy.
Season and serve with pasta.