Smokey Meatballs | Gestational Diabetes UK

This simple and delicious family-friendly meal is a midweek winner. Here are my Smokey Meatballs! Perfect for the whole family; even wee ones will get stuck into these!

If you have fussy eaters, you can blitz the sauce so that it is silky and smooth before adding the meatballs.

You can also increase the number of vegetables used in this sauce by adding lower-carb vegetables such as mushrooms, courgettes, celery, peppers and aubergine! It’s a great way to pack lots of veggies into a dish and they can be hidden so that no one will ever know!!

Here I have used Aldi Swedish-style pork meatballs. You can of course, substitute the meatballs for vegetarian or vegan no-meatballs instead if you wish.

Smokey Meatballs

Smokey Meatballs | Gestational Diabetes UK

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Course: Main Meals

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Diabetic

Keyword: meatballs

Free or Subscription Recipe: Free Recipe

Free from: coconut, dairy, nuts

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 25

Servings: servings

Calories: 400kcal

Author: Jo Paterson

Ingredients

500 grams meatballs
1 tablespoon olive oil
400 grams tinned chopped tomatoes
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 beef OXO cube
1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon onion salt
400 ml water plus more as needed
1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley chopped

Instructions

Prepare your pasta of choice as per the packet instructions
Add half of the olive oil to a pan on medium to high heat. Add the finely chopped onion and cook until softened
In a frying pan, add the rest of the olive oil and the meatballs. Fry on medium stirring as needed whilst preparing the sauce
Add the garlic to onions and cook for a minute or so until fragrant
Pour in the tinned tomatoes, Worcester sauce and the water. Stir, then add the tomato purée, smoked paprika, dried oregano, onion salt and crumble in the OXO cube. Stir well, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer
While the meatballs and pasta cook, continue stirring the sauce and add more water as needed
When the meatballs are browned slightly all over, add them to the sauce and stir to evenly coat
Once the pasta is cooked, drain for serving
Stir some fresh basil and parsley into the meatball sauce at the end (reserving some for garnishing) and serve over 4 tablespoons of pasta. Top with grated cheese and a sprinkle of the reserved herbs

Notes

The nutritional value of this meal will vary depending on the type of meatballs being used and the type of pasta. If brown wheat pasta is not tolerated very well, then a chickpea, black bean or lentil pasta maybe a better alternative for you to use. Adding cheese to top the meatballs will increase the protein and fat content meaning the pasta will be paired more.

Nutrition