• olive oil
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 1 carrot roughly chopped
• 1 beef stock cube
• 3 mugs of boiling water
• thyme – 5 stalks, leaves removed and chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• a 690g jar of passata
• 2 tbsp of sun-dried tomato pesto
• 2 tbsp of tomato purée
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• a mug of breadcrumbs
• ½ a mug of milk
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large eggs (1 to bind the meatballs)
• 70g of finely grated parmesan cheese
• sausage meat from 4 pork sausages
• 1kg of high fat minced beef
• a handful of parsley, finely chopped
• a handful of basil, finely chopped
• salt & pepper to season

1. First, start with the tomato sauce. This is a simple sweet sauce to complement the savoury meaty meatballs.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Throw in your roughly chopped white onion and carrots and cook for a few minutes. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water. Add this along with all the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until onions and carrots are soft enough to blend.
3. While this simmers, in a bowl combine the breadcrumbs with the milk and let them soak for a few minutes. Then add in the garlic, egg, Parmesan cheese, meat, parsley and basil and season well.
4. Mix with your hands for a few minutes, not too long because it can make the meatballs tough.
5. Spray a baking tray with oil and make them into medium-sized balls the size of a large egg. Spray with oil and then colour under a hot grill for about 10 minutes.
6. As they are colouring under the grill, remove bay leaves and thyme stalks and liquidise the tomato sauce with a hand blender until it is smooth and then place back onto a high heat to reduce slightly.
7. When the meatballs have browned nicely, take them out of the oven and place them into the sauce for 35–40 minutes on a low heat with the lid on.
8. Cook your pasta of choice (I recommend pappardelle or spaghetti) in salty water, until al dente, and drain, reserving a mug of the pasta water. Return the drained pasta to the warm empty saucepan.
9. Taste your sauce and adjust the seasoning to your taste and then spoon a few ladles of the sauce on top of the pasta, along with a splash of the pasta water, and mix around until the pasta has absorbed and is coated by the sauce.
10. Serve in a nice spiral and top with as many perfectly moist meatballs as your hungry heart desires.
11. Buon appetito, amici.

Recipe by Colleen Ramsey (Colleen Ramsey: Bywyd a Bwyd).

Colleen's book: Bywyd a Bwyd / Enjoying Life through Food (Y Lolfa)

Instagram: @colleen_ramsey

Twitter: @_C_Ramsey