Chorizo & Beef Sausage Meatballs in Tomato & Creamy Sauce with Fusilli Pasta

Collaboration with The Meat Club
Dish 1 - Homemade Beef Burger 
Dish 2 - Apple Sage & Rosemary Pork Sausages


The other day I was feeling lethargic (post holiday syndrome. haha) and didn't want to spend too much effort in whipping up a meal. Moreover the weather was so warm and humid and times like these, I usually like to eat something tangy or spicy to whet the appetite.

Pasta to the rescue! The kiddo is a big pasta lover, so he doesn't mind. The hb and I are not big pasta eaters but we don't mind some with tomato base once in a while. But the thing is, what's quick and easy to go with the pasta and sauce?

Now, I still have a packet of Pork Spanish Chorizo as well as Beef Herb & Garlic Sausages from The Meat Club to try, so decided to turn them into meatballs! Meatballs are perfect with pasta!

Both sausages are very flavourful on their own, it's not even necessary to add any seasonings. Simply remove the minced from their casings and mix them together. They are rather dense in texture, so I added some grated garlic and onion to make it easier for the mince to come together.
Thereafter, just roll into meatballs about the size of fishball. Easy meatballs!

Chorizo & Beef Sausage Meatballs
(makes 30 meatballs, serves 3-4 pax)

Ingredients
(A) Meatballs

• 3pcs Beef herb & garlic sausages (about 250g)
• 3pcs Pork sausage - spanish chorizo (about 200g)
• 1/2 yellow onion, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, grated

(B) Tomato sauce

• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onion
• Handful of basil and a few sprigs of parsley
• Sea salt, black pepper, sugar
• Water

(C) Creamy sauce

• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tsp plain flour
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 60ml cooking cream

• 200g Fusilli pasta, cook in salted boiling water for 8 mins)

Steps

1. Remove casing from the beef and chorizo sausages and place the minced meat into a large bowl.
2. Add grated onion and garlic into the minced meat and mixed well.
3. Roll the minced meat into meatballs, size of fishball.
4. In a frying pan or casserole, add about 2-3 tbsp olive oil. Pan-fry the meatballs till golden brown on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Make tomato sauce: In the same frying pan, add garlic and onion and sautee till fragrant. Add the 2 cans of chopped tomatoes and let the sauce simmer (on low heat) for 10mins (covered), add some water if necessary. Add the meatballs and cook for another 8mins (covered). Add basil, sea salt, black pepper and sugar (to taste) and simmer for another 1-2 mins (covered). Sauce is ready.
6. Make creamy sauce: In a small pot on low heat, add butter then flour, stir to make a roux. Add beef stock and cooking cream and bring to boil. Off heat. Sauce is ready.
7. To serve, divide the fusilli pasta into 3-4 portions, scoop tomato or creamy sauce over together with the meatballs. Best eaten hot.

The meatballs turned out really yummy; they were slightly salty and heavy on the palate and hence, the tangy tomato sauce provided a balance to the taste!

In fact, they taste a little like Ikea meatballs! I still have some leftover sausages, I think I'm going to try making the Ikea-style meatballs with brown sauce one of these days.

The kiddo prefers the creamy sauce, hence I made a small portion of creamy sauce for him to go with his meatballs and pasta. This creamy sauce is easy-peasy to make and in fact I can improvise this into the Ikea brown sauce.

Fresh sausages are actually quite versatile; they can be eaten on its own after grilling or pan-frying, made into meatballs, or simply use them as quick mince to any dishes. Next time when I need quick-fix meatballs, I will certainly go for this method!

Stay tuned, as upcoming I will share the last dish using fresh lamb chops from The Meat Club.