La Colombe meatballs with tomato sauce

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Ingredients

For the meatballs
2 onions, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
3 kg beef fillet trimmings/offcuts, minced
1 kg pork back fat, minced
4 T sambal oelek
2 t Spanish hot paprika
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Oil, for frying
For the tomato sauce:
3 onions, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
Butter, for frying
2 x 50 g sachets tomato paste
200 ml white wine
100 ml white wine vinegar
4 x 400 g cans cherry tomatoes
2 chipotle chillies
2 t sambal oelek
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
300 ml olive oil

Cooking Instructions

To make the meatballs, sweat the onions, garlic, thyme and celery until translucent, sweet and soft. Allow to cool.

Mix the onion mixture with the beef and pork fat, sambal oelek, paprika, salt and pepper and knead very well. Shape into preferred size and allow to rest in the fridge until needed.

Brown the meatballs in a hot pan with some oil, until browned evenly all over. Transfer to a roasting pan and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 160°C. To make the tomato sauce, fry the onion, garlic and thyme in a little butter until completely translucent and sweet.

Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine and vinegar and reduce until syrupy. Add the canned tomatoes, chillies and sambal oelek and simmer gently until thick. Season and add the olive oil while blending using a stick blender. You may have to adjust the seasoning with a little sugar.

This recipe is from the My Family Kitchen in the April 2018 issue of TASTE Magazine. Former chef turned photographer, Claire Gunn, took her camera backstage to document the 'family' meal, which can forget deep connections in a kitchen team.

Discover what the staff of other restaurants, including La Tete, The Test Kitchen and Thali, eat here.