Spaghetti and Meatballs in the Thermomix

While last night's meal was not particularly gourmet or spectacular I thought I would tell you about it anyway, just to show you how versatile the Thermomix is.

Those of you that live in Sydney will have suffered along with me in the sweltering summer heat yesterday.  At my house it was 42 degrees C at 5 pm (for those of you in the U.S that is over 107 degrees F!!!)  It was HOT!!!!  So I got to thinking what can I make for dinner that is not going to have me slaving away over a hot stove (and much and all as I would like a salad - "The Darlings" ain't never going to go for it - so I will have to cook for them anyway!)  Also we had afternoon sport (oh what joy, now that school is back!!!)

So..... I decided to experiment a little with my "toy" and see how I could "multi task" with the Thermomix and make my life a little simpler/cooler.

My meatball recipe was pretty simple

Meatballs
Serves 5-6

500g lean pork mince
500g chicken breast mince
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 onion, finely diced
1 tbs dried basil leaves
1 tbs dried oregano leaves
1 tbs vegetable stock concentrate
freshly ground black pepper

Place the onion and garlic in the TM bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 7.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Chop again if necessary.

Add the minces and seasonings.  This is where I experimented - I used the "knead" function of the TM to combine the mixture - I "kneaded" the mixture for approximately 1 1/2 minutes until all the ingredients were combined.  Perfect - meant I didn't have to get my hands in there!!!

Next I just took small spoonfuls of the mixture and rolled them into balls (I know I still had to get a little dirty!!).  I placed the meatballs on the two levels of the varoma (the tray and the receptacle).  Then put them in the fridge while I got the sauce going.

Now onto the sauce.  I basically used the recipe from the Everyday Cooking for Every Family Cookbook - but made a couple of changes.

Tomato Sauce

1 kg fresh ripe tomatoes
1/2 red capsicum
35g olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch fresh basil
freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs vegetable stock concentrate

Place all the ingredients in the TM bowl and pulverise for 1 minute on speed 10.  Make sure that all the ingredients are fully pulverised - repeat if necessary.

Cook for 30 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed soft.  Make sure you leave the measuring cup at an angle to prevent too much "spitting" of the sauce.

After 30 minutes, scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Place the varoma with the meatballs on top, and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes.  Place the meatballs and sauce into your thermoserver (it keeps things hot or cool - kind of like a thermos!!)

Rinse out your TM bowl.

Now place water into the the TM bowl (approx 1200g), add a little salt.  Cook for 14 minutes at 100C on speed 1.

Add your required amount of pasta, then cook for an additional 8-10 minutes at 100 degrees on Reverse and speed soft.

Drain, and serve with the meatballs!!!

As I said, nothing fancy or exotic - but look how easy it all was using the Thermomix!!!  No slaving over the stove stirring - Thermie did all the hard work for me!!!

Washing up was a breeze - the TM is so easy to clean.  I should know I had used it several times already yesterday afternoon to make homemade peanut butter and nuttella.  I don't know what I did before I had my little "buddy" to help me in the kitchen!!!

So Dear Readers how did you survive the heat yesterday???  Better batten down the hatches - it's going to be a scorcher again today - what is this day three or day four??  I have lost count - the brain is fried!!!

Keep Cool Dear Readers!!!