New Make/Bake 23 - Pork and Ricotta Meatballs

After a very hectic weekend celebrating my 29+1 Birthday I wanted an easy and relaxed meal to start the week. After a rummage in the freezer I noticed that I appear to have overstocked myself with pork mince (4 packs - eeek!) so thought I ought to do something to use them up. I also had a pot of ricotta with today's date so rather than follow a recipe, I thought I'd invent my own for once!

Pork and Ricotta Meatballs with a Creamy Tomato Sauce
Serves 2

Ingredients

For the Meatballs
250g Pork Mince
Large Handful of the following: Breadcrumbs, Grated Parmesan (I always keep some of both handy in the freezer) and freshly chopped Chives
2 garlic cloves, crushed (we love garlic so use less if you're not such a fan as us)
50g Ricotta Cheese
Seasoning

For the Creamy Tomato Sauce
Oil (I use an Olive Oil Spray)
1x400g tin of Chopped tomatoes
1/2 red onion finely diced
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Tomato Purée
100g Ricotta Cheese
Seasoning

Method

1. Start by mixing all of the Meatball ingredients in a large bowl until combined and shape into large marble sized balls
2. Fry the red onion in a few sprays of Olive Oil until it softens
3. Add the meatballs and fry until brown (about 5 minutes) 

 
4. Add the tinned tomatoes and some water (I just rinsed the can out with some warm water)
5. Add the Dried Oregano, Tomato Purée and Balsamic Vinegar. Bring to the boil and the simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the tomato mixture had reduced and the meatballs are cooked through.

6. Check the seasoning (I found mine was a little sharp so I added a pinch of sugar) and then stir in the Ricotta Cheese.
7. Once combined, serve with some fresh basil and cooked pasta of your choice - I had wholemeal spaghetti.

Considering I didn't follow a recipe I was actually quite pleased with it. It tasted lovely, the meatballs were really tender and juicy and the ricotta added depth to the tomato sauce. Yummy!

Make/Bake 20 - BBQ beans with mashed potato tops

Seeing as it's my birthday in a few weeks ( my 29th  plus 1 as I refer to it) I want to lose a few pounds to either fit into a lovely new dress or into an old one I've not worn in ages!

As part of this new healthy eating kick I'm going to mostly making lower calorie dinners and lunches and trying to eat less crisps and more fruit and veg. Today's new make/bake was a healthy meal I found on BBC Good Food -  BBQ beans with mashed potato tops

It's difficult to get M to eat some vegetables unless they are very, very well hidden, Celery being one of them! As this recipe had a BBQ flavour I thought it was bound to be onto a good thing as M is a total sucker for anything hickory smoked and it was probably going to help hide the veggies!

I found the recipe easy to follow and was really quick which is always a bonus for a Monday evening. I tasted the sauce as I went and found it tasted of tomato rather than BBQ so I added Smoked Paprika to give it a deeper flavour.

One of the reasons I wanted to try this recipe was the mash. I always seem to end up with lumpy mash but today I follows some of Delia's advice and left my potatoes to steam dry for a few minutes before using my potato ricer and then mixing in milk and cream cheese. Other than the fact I didn't think 300g of potato made enough mash for us, it was lovely. The cream cheese (I used a light version to reduce the calories) was a great addition as it made the mash really smooth and creamy. I also sprinkled on some grated low-fat cheddar before popping it under the grill until the cheese had melted and served it with left-over Ham, Cheese and Chive Bread. 

It was really tasty, although M found it a bit bland. I think it was because there wasn't enough meat for his liking! I think it still is missing something to make it have a decent BBQ flavour so may have to play around a bit. I also think it would better if the beans were cooked slower and longer but not too bad for under 400kcal!