A freezer-friendly meal from Neven Maguire.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Prep 20 mins
Cook 40 MINS
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery stick, finely chopped 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 12 ready-made beef meatballs
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 x 400g tin of kidney beans in chilli sauce
- 1–3 tsp hot chilli sauce, to taste
- 1 x 120g ball of buffalo mozzarella
- 25g jarred jalapeño pepper slices, drained, plus extra to serve
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
- Crusty bread or rolls shredded crisp lettuce thinly sliced red onion.
This takes ready-made meatballs up a notch in this cheesy bake topped with melting mozzarella. It would also be so easy to double up the quantity if you found yourself with a crowd of hungry kids to feed.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°c (350°F/gas mark 4).
- Put the onion, celery and green pepper in a shallow casserole (or a regular roasting tin will also work) and drizzle over the oil, then toss until evenly coated and spread out in an even layer. Arrange the meatballs on top and season with salt and pepper. roast for 15 minutes.
- Pour the chopped tomatoes into a large jug and add the sugar, vinegar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Mix until well combined, then stir in the kidney beans. Season with salt and pepper and add chilli sauce to taste.
- Remove the casserole from the oven and give everything a good stir, then pour in the tomatoes and kidney beans, mixing well to combine. tear over the mozzarella and return to the oven for another 15 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through and the cheese is bubbling.
- Scatter over the jalapeño peppers and serve straight to the table with the bread or rolls and bowls of the lettuce, red onion and jalapeño pepper slices.
