Red Pepper Meatballs

  Tuesday  28 June...I  spent the whole morning sorting paperwork out  for my sons school.This   is  a  very  time wasting episode   as  he  has already been in the school  for 3 years, but...every year on the one day allocated you have to go to  the  bank specified, pay the  fees  for insurance and  the cuota for  the AMPA(association of  mothers, fathers and  students),then go to the school and give in the paperwork.
I am  sure    that  most of this   could be done online   and   save    running around for a whole morning in this heat!
Anyway  its   done now until next years allocated   day  !
       With    children in the house it  is  always  a  concern    when choosing  what to cook for them and  are they  getting enough   fruit and vegetables in their diet. Sometimes I admit  i  try to  hide      the  onions  as  one   of  my  boys  will  NOT  eat them,,,,,if he can see them of course !
Today  we  had   Red pepper meatballs, which  taste great  and combined with spaghetti  make  a  perfectly  tasty and nutritious  meal.

Ingredients for red pepper meatballs

2  onions

2 cloves garlic

1 slice of bread

2 tablespoons of oil

teaspoon of dried  thyme

1 red pepper

salt and pepper

400g  tin of chopped tomatoes

500 ml  of  beef stock

2 tablespoons tomato puree

1/ Heat the oven to  200'C,(400'F, gas 6)

2/roughly chop 1 onion and one garlic clove  in a food processor then add   the  bread to this mix.

3/Add  the minced beef,red pepper(deseeeded and roughly chopped) ,the thyme and salt and pepper and mix  until evenly mixed.

4/Shape the mixture into  approx. 12 meatballs, arrange in a shallow  roasting dish and cook for  15-20 minutes  or until browned.

5/Meanwhile , heat the  remaining  onion and garlic (finely chopped),for 1-2 minutes until softened.Add the tomatoes,beef stock and tomato puree, bring to the boil, season ,then simmer  for    around 10 minutes until it has   thickened slightly.

6/ Transfer the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
*  If you do not have a food  processor  this  mixes up  fine  by  hand**
*** To make a  slightly richer sauce..try adding   2   tablespoons of pesto  and  a  dash of worcester sauce to  the  sauce mix***

Serve  with  Spaghetti, rice  , oven chips    and /or  garlic  bread  .  A  sprinkle of  parmesan cheese   and  a  few  herbs  before serving adds the finishing touch.

Try   getting the  kids involved in making this  dish, a  bit   messy  but... they love   forming the shapes    and   if they help   with  the cooking   I  find  they are eager to eat  everything!