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Italian

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Tender meatballs in a slow tomato sauce, spaghetti, garlic bread and a peppery rocket salad.

  • Serves4
  • Dishes4
  • Total time1 hr
  • Hands-on47 min
  • DifficultyEasy
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Hand-drawn ink illustration of the dishes in Spaghetti & Meatballs

Comfort food that looks after itself once the sauce is on. The tomato sauce simmers low while you roll and brown the meatballs; the pasta and garlic bread come together right at the end so nothing sits and goes cold.

To drink: A medium-bodied Chianti or Montepulciano.

The 4 dishes below are timed to finish together. Import the meal and Fatto schedules every step backwards from your chosen serving time — here's how that works.

The meal, dish by dish

Meatballs & sauce

  • 500 g beef mince
  • 1 egg
  • 40 g breadcrumbs
  • 2 x 400 g tinned tomatoes
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Basil
  1. Mix the mince with egg, breadcrumbs and seasoning, then roll into balls
    Prep / hands 12–15 min Hands-on Prep ahead
  2. Brown the meatballs on all sides
    Stovetop 8–10 min Hands-on
  3. Add the tomatoes, garlic and basil and simmer the meatballs in the sauce until tender
    Stovetop 25–35 min Unattended

Spaghetti

  • 400 g spaghetti
  • Salt
  1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
    Stovetop 8–10 min Unattended
  2. Cook the spaghetti until al dente, then drain
    Stovetop 9–11 min Hands-on

Garlic bread

  • 1 ciabatta or baguette
  • 60 g butter
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • Parsley
  1. Split the bread and spread with garlic-parsley butter
    Prep / hands 5–6 min Hands-on Prep ahead
  2. Bake the garlic bread until crisp and golden
    Oven 200°C 8–10 min Unattended

Rocket & parmesan salad

  • 100 g rocket
  • Parmesan shavings
  • Olive oil
  • Lemon juice
  1. Dress the rocket with oil and lemon and top with parmesan shavings
    Prep / hands 4–5 min Hands-on