Mozzarella madness

Spaghetti and meatballs.  Mozzarella cheese.  Tasty tomato sauce.  Need I say any more?  I love spaghetti bolognese, lasagne, all those tasty tomato-cheese-pasta dishes.  Meatballs however, are not something I often make.  So when I stumbled on this recipe, from Annabel Langbein, I had to stop and wonder why not?  I mean heck - this is a little parcel of meat-patty-style goodness, stuffed with melty, stretchy mozzarella!  

We made ours with pork mince, and they were amazing.  So tasty, so quick to throw together, and everyone loved them, from Miss 3 through to all the adults.  I'm going to make them again tonight, this time trying lamb mince.  Can't wait!  

400 g mince

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 egg

1/2 - 1 cup freshly grated parmasan (I used a cup because I grate my parmasan using a microplane, which makes it really fluffy.  If you were using a normal grated, half a cup would probably be enough) 

2 tsp dried oregano (makes it taste like pizza!!!!)

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 tsp salt

ground black pepper, to taste

70 g mozzarella, cut into wee cubes (I actually used pre-grated mozzarella, and just grabbed small amounts and had KB roll them into little balls)

1 tin tomatoes 

1 tin pasta sauce (or you can use 2 tins of tomatoes and a good squirt of tomato paste)

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp chipotle sauce (optional - maybe a dash of BBQ sauce if you don't like any spice)

spaghetti and extra parmasan, to serve

1. Mix together all the meatball ingredients in a bowl (except the mozzarella).  Set aside until you're ready to cook the meatballs (I made this a day early then left it in the fridge).  
2. Once ready to cook, preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.  
3. Mix sauce ingredients together in ovenproof dish (large enough for the meatballs).  
4. Form about 20 golf-sized meatballs from meat.  Flatten ball in your palm, push mozzarella in centre, and reform the ball around the cheese.  Place in sauce.  
5. Mix the sauce around and over the balls a bit, pop into the oven.  
6. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked.  
7. Serve with spaghetti and extra parmasan cheese.  Buon appetito!!