Spaghetti and meatballs: the healthy version

Time to get your spiralizer out for this classic little number.  Enough to feed four.

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Ingredients

Meatballs:

500 g beef mince (I like the 5% fat one)

1 small courgette or ½ large courgette, finely grated

5 button mushrooms, finely grated

Freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:

100g button mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, whole

a big handful of fresh basil leaves

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Spaghetti:

3 large courgettes, spiralized

2 medium carrots, spiralized

200g spaghetti, cooked to al dente  (this is only 2 portions)

 

Method:

Meatballs:

In a bowl, combine ingredients for meatballs and form little balls about ½ the size of a golf ball.  Place on a baking tray and put in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 200°C.

Sauce:

In a saucepan, lightly fry the onion and garlic in a little oil or butter.

Add mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and fry until the tomato skins have blistered.  Switch of the hob and place a lid on the pan to let it sweat a little.

Spaghetti:

Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions.

Spiralize the courgette and carrots and add to the spaghetti one minute before it has finished cooking.  Take a pair of tongs to combine the three after the water has been drained.  Careful not to over mix as it can quite quickly become a soggy mess.

Combine:

Once meatballs have been in the oven for 10 or so minutes, take it out and place it in the pan with the tomato and onion mix.  Make sure you pour any liquid also into the pan.

Switch the hob on a medium heat and let the flavours mingle whilst you give the basil a quick chop before adding it to the meat mix.

Serve the meatballs on top of the courgette, carrot and spaghetti.

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It may seem like a lot of effort for spaghetti and meatballs, but trust me when I say: ‘it is delicious!’  The grated courgette makes the meatballs moist and the mushrooms give it a slight earthy flavour.  The fresh basil at the end is the pièce de résistance!