Slimmer Meatballs

Low in fat and low in carbohydrates this meal is perfect for a midweek meal, especially when you need something hot and filling that doesn't feel like 'diet' food. The effort required to prepare this is also minimal making it a complete winner for me. In order to reduce the fat and carbohydrates and still feel full I use a fair quantity of mince, substituting pork and beef with lean turkey, and serve with a green salad instead of pasta. (Seriously, you don't miss the pasta). One of the secrets to this is the long simmer for the sauce to add depth of flavour. I usually get this in the oven when I get in, then go do a workout and by the time I'm ready so are the meatballs. This feeds two greedy post work out people, but could definitely stretch much further (definitely up to four if you did put pasta with it).

Ingredients

• 500g lean turkey mince
• 1tbsp grated parmesan
• Pinch dried chillies
• Dried herbs
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 x 400g tins tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Optional – stock melt or cube.
• Low fat grated cheese

Method

1. Get the sauce on. Drizzle some oil into a large frying pan with a lid and add the chopped onions. Sweat these gently until they are golden and translucent. Crush in a garlic clove. When you can smell the garlic add the tins of tomatoes. I always swish out the tins with about 100ml of water to get all the tomatoes out and make sure there is enough liquid in the sauce. Season with dried herbs (about a teaspoon), salt and pepper. Let this simmer. Sometimes I add a beef stock cube to add a bit more meatiness to the sauce.

2. In a bowl crush in the other garlic clove, and mix gently with the meat, herbs, chillies, purée, salt and pepper. When combined roll into small balls (try not to work the mix too much otherwise your meatballs will become cannon balls). Gently place these into the sauce as you roll each one.

3. Put the lid on, and bring to a gentle simmer. You can now leave this on the hob or transfer to an oven (about 180 degrees celsius) for about an hour to an hour and a half (until the sauce is thickened to how you like it and the meatballs are cooked). Gently stir after about 15 mins – not breaking up the balls but making sure the sauce doesn't catch. 

4. Serve with a little grated cheese and a green salad.

 Do you have any tips for low fat or low carbohydrate dinners?