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Ingredients

Meatballs
· 800g beef mince
· ½ cup ground almonds (or you can use breadcrumbs)
· 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
· 1 large egg
· ½ onion, finely chopped
· Good pinch of coarse iodised salt
· Olive oil for cooking

Sauce
· 2 Tbspn olive oil
· 1 onion, finely chopped
· 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
· 4 Tbspn tomato paste
· 2x 400g cans crushed tomatoes (or use the equivalent of tomato passata)
· 1 Tbspn red wine vinegar
· 2 carrots, grated
· Salt and pepper

Topping
· 1 cup grated mozzarella
· 3 Tbpsn grated parmesan

To serve
· ½ cup sour cream
· ½ large avocado – sliced
· Fresh herbs – chopped parsley, basil etc…
· 1x bag Cheeza-Peno tortilla chips

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C. For the meatballs, in a large bowl combine beef mince, ground almonds (or breadcrumbs), dried herbs, egg, onion and a good pinch of salt. Roll into small-sized balls and set aside on a plate.

2. Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Brown meat balls in batches (but do not cook through) and then arrange the meatballs in a large baking dish. NB: You may need to add extra olive oil between each batch.

3. For the sauce, add extra olive oil to the same pan the meatballs were cooked in and soften the onion and garlic with a good pinch of salt for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, canned tomatoes or passata, red wine vinegar, grated carrot and cracked black pepper and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly.

4. Pour the sauce over the meatballs in the baking dish and sprinkle over cheese.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbly.

6. Top with dollops of sour cream, sliced avocado and fresh herbs and serve with tortilla chips.

NB: If feeding a hungry crowd, you can also serve it alongside steamed rice.

Recipe by Emily Hope