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 13: Lemon, Parmesan & Pine Nut Pork Escalopes with Speedy Roasties

Monday's are always a bit depressing to me. Don't get me wrong, I do love my job but I also love my weekend lay-ins and baking fests so Mondays are always an evening that I like to get out of the way so I can get on with my week. What better to cure the Monday night Blues but a bit of new make/baking...

Today's attempt: Lemon, Parmesan & pine nut crumbed pork escalopes with Speedy Roasties, served with lemon wedges and a side salad (lettuce, tomato and balsamic glaze).

The pork escalopes were a new recipe but we've had pork escalopes in breadcrumbs a few times, so I'm not really counting that, although they were delicious (anything with pine nuts is a winner in my book). The new make/bake was the speedy roasties. For these I oven baked a packet of ready-made Gnocchi (found with pasta in most supermarkets) with a few splashes of rapeseed oil. I also crisped them up in a frying pan as my oven was going a bit slow today and they just weren't golden brown enough for my liking!

M doesn't like Gnocchi in its more traditional serving method (boiled like pasta), he thinks they taste bland and rubbery and I can see what he means, they are quite an acquired taste, but personally I love them! I think they are like little potato dumplings, perfect smothered in a lovely pasta sauce and loads of cheese and are one of my favourite comfort foods so I always have a packet in the cupboard. They also freeze well and you can cook them from frozen so are great for mid-week meals. Because M doesn't like them, I didn't tell him what they were until after he had tried one and said he thought they were lovely - sneaky? me?! They tasted a bit like little roast potatoes and had a lovely crispy shell with a light fluffy potato filling. Very quick and easy and definitely one to have again.