Warwickshire Recipe: Pasta perfezione

By Warwickshire Life on January 26th 2012

Warwickshire Recipe: Pasta perfezione

David Rudge shares a simple recipe for the perfect Valentine’s meal for two, inspired by Walt Disney and a Warwick cook…spaghetti and meatballs.

Ever since Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, there’s been something romantic about a meal of spaghetti and meatballs. And, better still, it’s easy to prepare, and looks fantastic on a plate.

I was given this very straightforward recipe by a woman who lived in Warwick, but whose family came from just north of Naples. She was very dismissive of English recipes for meatballs, saying that we added too many herbs, flour and eggs to something that was very simple.  In fact, she was dismissive of English cookery full stop.

Using just the meat and water, and most importantly, wet hands when rolling the balls, she insisted that the meatballs would stay whole, throughout the cooking process.

The flavour of the meatballs comes from the meat itself, with just a hint of nutmeg. She also believed in cooking the spaghetti sauce, or sugo, for a long time, so that the meat juices broke down properly.

Anyway, here’s the result: a tasty valentine’s meal for just two:

Ingredients

300g spaghetti

75g lean minced beef

75g minced pork

Two rashers of streaky bacon

Two tins of tomatoes.

Half a freshly grated nutmeg

Parmesan cheese

Bay leaf

Fresh basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Method

Finely chop the bacon and fry in its own fat in a large, deep pan until it begins to crisp up. At the same time, add a small handful of the minced beef and pork and fry until browned. This will give the sauce a good thickness.

Add the tinned tomatoes, using a fork to break them down, and pour a couple of splashes of red wine and water into the sauce. Add a bay leaf and allow the sauce to simmer gently.

Prepare the meatballs in a bowl. Mix the minced beef and pork and add salt and pepper, and the grated nutmeg. Add a couple of table spoons of water and a glug of red wine to the mixture. Ensure your hands are wet, and begin to gently roll the meatballs in your palms. The balls should be firm but not squashed…and no bigger than a very large conker!

The meatballs don’t need flour or eggs to hold them together. Place them into the simmering sauce and allow to cook gently for an hour at least. By the end, the sauce should have reduced considerably and have a thick consistency, and shouldn’t be at all watery. Remove the bay leaf.

Boil the pasta in the usual way, adding salt to the water. When it is almost al dente, drain well, ensuring the spaghetti is almost dry, and add to the pan of meatballs and sauce and toss to coat the pasta in the sauce.

Serve with grated parmesan and a few leaves of fresh, roughly torn basil. The whole thing is best served with a nice, fresh bottle of Valpolicella.

And, unlike Lady and the Tramp…it’s probably wiser to have separate bowls, however close you are to your sweetheart. Things could get messy!

Buon appetito.

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