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Mean feat no-meat meatballs

With tomato-butter sauce and pasta

I found a pasta shape called ‘fusilli lunghi bucati’ when I first made this dish and it’s the most ridiculous thing: very thin, tightly curled tubes, about 60cm long. If you can find it, I highly recommend it for a bit of fun, but I think linguine or spaghetti would be my next choice.

The sauce is based on the famous Marcella Hazan recipe for tomato sauce. Whereas Hazan discards the onion half before serving, I like to keep the onion and blitz the whole lot. Don’t reduce the amount of butter. You’ll thank me.

Serves 2

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1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes

50g salted butter

½ onion, peeled, unchopped

6–10 uncooked Mean Feat No-meat Meatballs, depending on how hungry you are

pasta (spaghetti, linguine, fettucine … whatever kind you like and as much as you want)

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing

flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a few fresh basil leaves, to serve

finely chopped rosemary leaves, to serve

Parmesan cheese, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with foil and grease with a little olive oil.

To make the sauce, tip the whole tin of tomatoes into a small saucepan. Add the butter, the onion half (unchopped) and a big pinch of flaked sea salt. Place over a medium heat until it starts to blip, then turn the heat right down. Cook for 45 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally and mashing up the tomato with the back of a spatula.

After the sauce has been cooking for a few minutes, stick the meatballs on the lined tray and bake in the hot oven for 30–35 minutes. While the meatballs are baking in the oven and the sauce is bubbling away, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

After the sauce has been cooking for 45 minutes, use a hand-held blender to blitz the whole lot, onion and all.

Drain the pasta, drizzle with the olive oil and place on plates or in shallow bowls. Place the cooked balls on top and cover the whole lot with sauce.

Sprinkle over the herbs, grate over some Parmesan and season with lots of black pepper … use any or all of these to make it just how you like it. Devour.