No-meatballs and spaghetti recipe
Grated courgette makes a great "no-meatball" when bound together with breadcrumbs, egg and cheese. Make sure that you squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the courgette before adding the other ingredients – you’ll be amazed at how much liquid there is in a grated courgette.
Ingredients
- 3 medium courgettes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 100 g fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 80 g reduced-fat mature cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped basil
- 300 g dried spaghetti
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 3 medium courgettes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3.5 oz fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 2.8 oz reduced-fat mature cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 14.1 oz tinned chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped basil
- 10.6 oz dried spaghetti
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 3 medium courgettes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3.5 oz fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 2.8 oz reduced-fat mature cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 14.1 oz tinned chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped basil
- 10.6 oz dried spaghetti
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: Italian-inspired
- Recipe Type: Vegetarian
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 20 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
- Coarsely grate the courgettes into a clean tea towel set over a bowl. Pick the tea towel up and squeeze out the excess moisture from the courgette. Discard the liquid.
- Tip the courgette into the bowl, then add the garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, plenty of black pepper and the cheese.
- Using your hands, mix everything together until evenly combined. Divide the mixture in half, then in half again. Divide each quarter into 4 so that you have 16 even-sized pieces in total.
- Roll each piece into a ball, arrange on a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan or saucepan until medium hot. Add the oil and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until just softened.
- Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 1 minute then add the tinned tomatoes and half the basil.
- Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the sauce and meatballs are cooking, cook the spaghetti in a pan of boiling, salted water until tender, according to the packet instructions.
- Drain into a colander then immediately place the colander back over the saucepan to catch some of the cooking water.
- Toss the spaghetti and cooking water in the pan into the tomato sauce and mix well. Add the courgette balls and toss very gently until just coated in the sauce.
- Serve immediately, with the remaining basil scattered over the top.
Extracted from Eat Well for Less: Happy & Healthy by Jo Scarratt-Jones (BBC Books, £14.99). Photography by Andrew Burton.
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