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I wanted a recipe for a non-chicken dish and pork meatballs came to mind. I’ve used mushrooms instead of breadcrumbs and the spinach adds colour and helps to keep the meatballs soft. I also wanted to include zucchini ribbons as a replacement for pasta, so these go into the Varoma towards the end of the cooking time.

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Pork, Spinach and Mushroom Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Zucchini Ribbons

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Course Main Course

Servings 4 serves

Ingredients

3 small zucchini

Meatballs

6 mushrooms halved
½ red onion peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic peeled
50 g baby spinach rinsed, dried and roughly chopped
600 g lean pork mince
½ tsp dried parsley
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil
Salt and pepper to season

Tomato Sauce

1½ red onion peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic peeled
20 g olive oil
2 x 400g cans diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
20 g Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Thermomix vegetable stock concentrate
Salt and pepper to season

Instructions

To make the meatballs, put ½ an onion and 1 clove of garlic in the Thermomix bowl and chop with the measuring cup (MC) on for 4 seconds | Speed 5
Scrape down the sides of the Thermomix, add mushrooms and chop with the MC on for 8-10 seconds | Speed 3 (until there are no large pieces left in the bowl)
Scrape down the sides of the Thermomix, break up the pork mince and add to the bowl along with the spinach, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and mix together for 30 seconds | Speed 3; use the spatula to help mix the ingredients together
Make the meatballs by rolling the meat mixture between the palms of your hand and forming into balls about 3-3.5cm wide
Put meatballs in the Varoma on both the bowl and tray; leaving about a 1cm gap between them – set aside
To make the sauce, clean the Thermomix bowl and chop the remaining onion and garlic in the Thermomix for 3 seconds | Speed 5
Scrape down the sides of the Thermomix, add oil and sauté with the MC off for 2 minutes | Varoma | Speed 1
Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, herbs, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce into the Thermomix and cook for 10 minutes | 100C | Speed 2 with the Thermomix basket sitting on top
While the sauce is cooking, use a peeler to shave the zucchini into ribbons; set aside
After the Thermomix stops, remove the basket and put the Varoma on top and cook for 15 minutes | Varoma | Reverse | Speed 2 (see Notes)
Put zucchini ribbons over the meatballs in the Varoma bowl; leaving a hole in the middle to allow steam to get through to the tray
Reassemble the Varoma and cook for 5 minutes | Varoma | Reverse | Speed 2
Remove the Varoma, put the MC on and blend the sauce going slowly from Speed 1 to Speed 8 for 30 seconds

Notes

The cooking time for the meatballs will vary depending on the amount of fat in the mince. If the mince has more fat in it, it will need the full 15 minutes. If the mince is leaner, then check after 12 minutes.

Keyword Pork, Thermomix