Herby meatballs with broccoli pesto pasta
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 50 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photography by Ant Duncan
Herby meatballs with broccoli pesto pasta
Spaghetti and meatballs is a comfort classic – we’ve given it a fresh twist to perk up your taste buds
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 50 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
712Kcal
Fat
21gr
Saturates
8gr
Carbs
71gr
Sugars
6gr
Fibre
10gr
Protein
56gr
Salt
0.4gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 50g dried breadcrumbs
- 4 tbsp milk
- 1 medium egg
- ½ x 30g pack parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped thyme
- 50g grated Parmesan
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and peeled
- 1 x 500g pack 5% fat pork mince
- tbsp olive oil
For the broccoli pesto pasta
- 300g spaghetti (or 400g to serve 6)
- 600g broccoli
- 1 x 30g pack basil, roughly chopped
- 50g freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve (optional)
Step by step
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6, with a shallow roasting tray in the oven to get hot.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, milk, egg, herbs, Parmesan, lemon zest and half of the lemon juice (save the rest for the pesto). Crush in 3-4 garlic cloves and add the pork mince and some seasoning. Mix everything until well combined, then shape into 30-32 meatballs (the raw meatballs can be frozen; defrost before baking).
- Remove the tray from the oven and add the oil and the meatballs, swirling them around to coat. Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway.
- Meanwhile, bring 2 large pans of salted water to the boil, with the rest of the garlic cloves in one of the pans. Add the spaghetti to the other pan and cook for about 10 minutes or until almost tender. Chop 200g of the broccoli into small florets and set aside. Roughly chop the rest of the broccoli (including the stalk) and add to the garlic pan. Cook for 7 minutes or until really soft, then drain well before tipping into a food processor or liquidiser.
- Add the basil to the processor, along with about 200ml starchy water taken from the pasta pan, and whiz to a purée before pulsing in the Parmesan, a squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning to taste.
- Stir the reserved broccoli florets into the pasta and cook for a further 3 minutes or until both the spaghetti and broccoli are tender. Drain, reserving a little more of the pasta water. Return the pasta to the pan and gently mix the broccoli pesto through, adding some of the reserved pasta water if needed. Divide among warmed bowls and top with the crispy golden meatballs, and extra Parmesan if you wish.
