Cheat recipes

Cheat’s sticky BBQ meatball pizza

15 minutes

Pasta recipes

Rotolo with burnt sage and lemon

30 minutes

Asian recipes

Tagliatelle with mint pea purée, toasted hazelnuts, bacon and cured egg yolk

15 minutes

Pasta recipes

Cuttlefish-ink spaghetti with green olive sourdough sauce and Brussels sprouts

15 minutes

Chicken recipes

Farfalloni with Marmite-and-onion sauce

40 minutes

Bread recipes

Slow-cooked lamb-and-pomegranate flatbread

3 hours

Bread recipes

Socca with warm olive salsa verde

15 minutes

Pasta recipes

Charcoal pasta with seaweed butter

10 minutes

Beetroot recipes

Beetroot flatbread with charred greens

20 minutes

Meatballs recipes

Toasted penne with pork meatballs

45 minutes

Toasted penne with pork meatballs

By Abigail Donnelly

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cooking Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

500 g lean pork mince
2 t Italian parsley, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1⁄2 onion, finely chopped
Olive oil, for frying
6 cups chicken stock
2 baby leeks, cleaned and chopped
4 brown mushrooms, torn
1 T olive oil
400 g Woolworths organic wholewheat penne rigate
1 red bird’s-eye chilli, finely chopped
1⁄2 lemon, juiced
1 cup cream
Parmesan, for serving
Deep-fried basil leaves, for serving

Method

Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs, except the oil, in a bowl. Roll into balls and fry in a nonstick pan over a medium to high heat until golden. Finish off in the oven at 180° C to cook through.
Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over a low heat.
Heat a large pan over a medium to high heat. Fry the leeks and mushrooms in the olive oil until golden. Remove from the pan.
Add the penne to the pan and lightly fry until evenly coated with oil. Add a few ladles of stock and stir until absorbed over a fairly high heat. Repeat, gradually adding the stock, until the pasta is tender and swollen. This should take about 30 minutes.
Add the chilli, lemon juice and cream to the pan. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat. Toss the meatballs and pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan. Season and garnish with basil.

Cook’s note: Cylindrical pasta shapes like penne are perfect for chunky sauces that get caught up in the tubes. I’m calling this risotto-pasta hybrid a rissasta! If you prefer your mushrooms with more texture, fry them separately in a little butter and toss through at the end.

Discover more pasta recipes here

Spinach lasagne

Kung pao chicken

Durban fish curry

Cheat’s sticky BBQ meatball pizza

Rotolo with burnt sage and lemon

Crispy satay rolls

Tagliatelle with mint pea purée, toasted hazelnuts, bacon and cured egg yolk

Cuttlefish-ink spaghetti with green olive sourdough sauce and Brussels sprouts

Chicken-and-mushrooms strudel

Farfalloni with Marmite-and-onion sauce

Slow-cooked lamb-and-pomegranate flatbread

Socca with warm olive salsa verde

Charcoal pasta with seaweed butter

Beetroot flatbread with charred greens

Toasted penne with pork meatballs

Toasted penne with pork meatballs

Ingredients

Method