The first time I tasted this recipe I knew I had hit the tomato sauce jackpot! It has the perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess and is rich, thick and coats the spaghetti perfectly.

I’ve made a gazillion tomato sauces in my life so far, pasta with something delicious to coat it has been my go-to recipe since my teens, but this one is possibly perfect.

And Im convinced it’s to do with the secret ingredient I’d never added before (read on to learn more!)…Also what could be better than pasta, tomato sauce, veal meatballs (free range of course)and parmesan? Pesto!! Yup, this recipe also has a deletable dollop of parsley pesto on-top. Proper Pasta Heaven.

Also a shout out to our Broughgammon Cookbook for this recipe-I adapted the Kooky Cook’s Goat Balls with Linguine, rich tomato sauce and basil pesto. The book is stuffed full of amazing recipes (the seaweed scones are so so good!) and well worth adding to your cookbook shelf! 🙂

Perfect Tomato and Meatball Sauce with Spaghetti and Parsley Pesto

(Adapted from the Broughgammon Cookbook)

To make the Sauce:

Forage and Find:

3 tins of chopped tomato

2 TBSP Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic Crushed

1 TSP Chilli Flakes

1 TBSP Sugar

Pinch Salt

Black Pepper to taste

2 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar-This is the secret ingredient! And makes the sauce so good!

Approx 22 Meatballs (I used Broughgammon Bullock Burgers and rolled a 1/4 of each into a ball)

1/3Grated Parmesan

1/3 Packet of Spaghetti

The Making:

In a large frying pan fry the garlic in 1 tbsp of oil until soft, add chilli and cook for a minute. Add all the tins of tomatoes, alongside pinch salt, some pepper, and the sugar. Simmer for 30 minutes until sauce is reduced.

After 15mins heat up the rest of the oil in another another pan and cook the meatballs until golden and cooked through.

Now add the red wine vinegar to the sauce, and the meatballs. Put the pasta on to cook. Once ready add to the pan with the sauce and meatballs.

Serve with grated parmesan onto and a dollop of pesto (see below).

To make the Parsley Pesto:

60g Parsley

2 Cloves Garlic Crushed

80g Parmasan in small chunks or grated

60g Pinenuts

Extra Virgin Oil

Put all ingredients except oil and salt into a blender and blitz. Add oil under consistency is pesto like and season with salt.

Let me know how you got on with the recipe and don’t forget to tag me and @BroughgammonFrm in any pics! Cant wait to see them!

Becky x