Gennaro Contaldo's meatballs recipe

Gennaro says: 'Meatballs are comfort food to me whether they are plain or served in a tomato sauce with pasta.' This meatballs recipe is such a family favourite, whether you're feeding kids or grown-ups, meatballs are a classic and they always go down a treat. Don't forget to dish them up with some Parmesan cheese on the side so everyone can grate over cheese if they like. If you like, while they are cooking, you can also make a simple tomato sauce and once the meatballs are cooked, you can add them to the sauce for an easy recipe that goes so well with a pasta of your choice. This makes a filling comfort food main that the whole family will love.

Ingredients

• 250g/9oz minced beef
• 250g/9oz minced pork
• 100g/3½oz stale bread, crusts removed and softened in a couple of tablespoons of milk, then drained
• ½ garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 40g/1½oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• plain flour for dusting
• oil (if you are frying)
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Combine the minced meats, softened bread, garlic and parsley. Stir in the egg, Parmesan, some salt and pepper and mix well together.
2. Shape the meat into small balls, approximately the size of walnuts. Dust them in flour and set aside.
3. You can now either fry them or bake them. To fry, heat the oil in a pan and fry the meatballs until golden. Drain on kitchen paper before serving. To bake, pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 and cook the meatballs for about 20 minutes until golden.