My favourite lunch at the moment are the lamb meatballs from Farmstand in Covent Garden but it’s too expensive to eat out in London so I attempted to recreate it at home.

I based mine off this recipe but I’ve made a few changes to make the tomato sauce sweeter and less tart.

I’m really happy with how well this turned out so I’m adding it to my recipe book.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 500g minced lamb
• Dried thyme
• Small bunch of finely chopped parsley
• 4 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 slices of sourdough bread soaked in a little milk (works best if the bread is not fresh)
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil for frying
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon of vegetables stock paste
• 1 carrot, grated (adds extra hidden vegetables and makes the sauce sweeter)
• 2 dried bay leaves

Method

1. Saute the onion and garlic on a low to medium heat with olive oil until the onion is soft. Set aside
2. Add the mince, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, parsley, 4 tablespoons of grated parmesan and the beaten egg to a large bowl
3. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and crumble it into the bowl
4. Add half the onion and garlic mix to the bowl and season with salt and pepper
5. Wet your hands with water before using them to combine the meat mixture
6. Form the mixture into large balls, or smaller balls if you prefer it that way. My batch made 9 large meatballs
7. Add some oil to the same pan you sauteed the onions in and add the meatballs. Fry on high heat until the meatballs are just browned
8. Add a tin of tomatoes to the pan plus a few tins of water, until the meatballs are just covered plus the remaining onion and garlic mix
9. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of vegetable stock paste to the pan and carefully stir until combined
10. Add 1 grated carrot to the pan and 2 bay leaves broken into large pieces
11. Carefully mix until all the ingredients are combined then turn the heat down to low
12. Simmer the meatballs for 30 to 40 minutes or until the sauce has thickened
13. Finally top the meatballs with grated parmesan cheese
14. You can serve it with pasta or another great option is to roast sweet potato with olive oil, thyme and rosemary 

Enjoy!