Tuna Meatballs! Oh My!

Hello Peeps!

So I made this for dinner last night, and it far, far, FAR exceeded my expectations! When I first read 'Tuna Meatballs', I thought, you've got to be kidding Jamie Oliver!

But, as I should have expected, the recipe was simple, easy to follow, and oh so yummy! You could serve this with pasta, or rice, couscous or quinoa. I was craving veg, so I served it on a bed of smashed baby peas, and blanched cavalo nero (italian spinach).

I made the full recipe, which yielded around 20 'balls'. I cooked what I wanted to eat, and then put the remainder, in batches of 4, uncooked, into zip lock bags & into the freezer, ready to just pop in the pan another time.

Enjoy!


le migliori polpette di tonno

For the meatballs
• 400g/14oz sustainably sourced tuna
• olive oil
• 55g/2oz pinenuts *I didn't have pine nuts, so used pistachios, which worked very well*
• 1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 100g/3½oz stale breadcrumbs *I didn't have breadcrumbs, so used quinoa flakes. They worked so well!*
• 55g/2oz freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 eggs
• zest and juice of 1 lemon

for the tomato sauce
olive oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 x 400g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• red wine vinegar
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped


To make the meatballs:

Chop the tuna up into 2.5cm/1 inch dice. Obviously I wasn't fussed to measure the size! Just small chunks is fine.

Pour a good couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large frying pan and place on the heat. Add the tuna to the pan with the pinenuts (or pistachios) and cinnamon. Season lightly with salt and pepper and fry for a minute or so to cook the tuna on all sides and toast the pinenuts. Allow to cool down for 5 minutes, in the pan.

Put the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, lemon zest and juice into a large bowl. Add the cooled tuna mix.

Now its time to get your hands dirty! Using your hands, really scrunch and mix all the flavours together.

Wet your hands, then grab a small amount, & roll it into a golfball kind of size & shape. If the mixture’s very sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs / quinoa flakes. Keep the meatballs around the same size and place them on an lightly oiled tray, cover, and pop into the fridge for an hour or so to let them rest.

To make the sauce:

Place a large pan onto a medium heat, and add a good glug of olive oil.

Add the onion and garlic and fry slowly for 10 or so minutes until soft.

Add the oregano, tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, then liquidize until smooth.

Taste it! I added a good glug of some red wine that I had left over, and it really lifted it.

Finally, remove your rested balls (hee!) from the fridge. In the same pan that you cooked the tuna mix in, add a bit of olive oil, then some of the tuna balls. Don't put them all in at once - you need to cook them in batches.

Once browned & cooked on all sides, top with the warm sauce, and top with some fresh parsley.