Meatballs

I used the meat loaf recipe, leaving out only the lemon, because there would be acidity in the tomato sauce. Having mixed the ingredients by hand, I rubbed quantities of the mixture gently between my palms to form balls of about the size of golfballs. I fried them in a layer of olive oil on a low to medium heat in a large, 28 cm frying pan; there was room for them all. They were brown after about five minutes' frying on each side. I transferred them to a plate.

This is the tomato sauce I made.

1 tbsp or more olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 dstsp tomato puree
1 400 g tin tomatoes
Pinch sugar
Salt

Soften the onion and the garlic in the olive oil over a low heat for about 10 minutes, adding more oil if the vegetables threaten to catch.

Tinned tomatoes can have a sharp, slightly bitter flavour. I have some, inconclusive evidence that it is softened if you dilute them. Add the puree to the onion and garlic, and tip in the tomatoes; half fill the tomato tin with water, swirl it around to dissolve the remnants of tomato, and pour into the sauce. Add the sugar and a grinding or two of salt, and simmer (uncovered) until the sauce starts to thicken (about 20 minutes). Pass it through a vegetable mill.

Put the meatballs and sauce into a pan wide enough to hold the balls in a single layer. Simmer gently, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, until the sauce is of a coating consistency.

We ate the meatballs with mashed potato. Rice might have been more appropriate, if less luxurious.