One Pan Beans
Claire Thomson
Quadrille, £20
Photography (c) Sam Folan
How to Make These Delicious Lentil Meatballs
Easy, delicious and cost-effective, this is the perfect midweek meal
Lentils give these meatballs a lovely flavour boost as well as helping them to be a bit more rounded nutritionally, not to mention stretching the quantity of meat bought with a less costly ingredient. Mixing the meatball mixture well is worth the effort, it helps to emulsify the ingredients, boosting texture and, importantly, succulence. You're looking for the mixture to be a bit sticky and springy but to hold together well. Resting the meatball mixture before shaping allows the mixture to fully hydrate so it's easier to shape and allows the salt to work on the proteins in the meat, improving the tenderness of the meatball when it cooks.
Serves
4
Ingredients
- For the meatballs
- 500g minced (ground) beef
- 150g ricotta
- 120g drained cooked or canned green or speckled lentils
- 1 egg
- 50g fine dried white breadcrumbs
- 20g parmesan or pecorino, finely grated, plus more to serve
- 4 sage leaves, very finely chopped freshly grated nutmeg
- olive oil, for frying
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 10 sage leaves
- 400g tomato passata (strained tomatoes)
- 120g drained cooked or canned green or speckled lentils
- pinch of chilli flakes (optional), plus more to serve
Method
For the meatballs, in a large bowl mix the minced beef, ricotta, lentils, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese and sage and season generously with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Knead the mixture for five minutes until it just begins to feel cohesive and a bit sticky. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, although a couple of hours is good.
Wet your hands and roll the meatball mixture into little balls about the size of a ping-pong ball. Put the balls on a plate in the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes or more.
In a large frying pan over a moderate heat, fry the meatballs in a film of olive oil in a single layer, in batches if needed, for five to eight minutes until browned, then place on a plate to the side.
In the same pan, add the two tablespoons of olive oil, the garlic and sage leaves and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic.
Add the passata and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes until the tomato sauce has thickened. Stir through the lentils and chilli flakes (if using) and check the seasoning.
Add the meatballs to the top of the sauce to gently warm through, then serve the meatballs topped with a grating of parmesan and a few more chilli flakes (if using).
