Try these melting-middle meatballs, then check out more meatball recipes, such as our baked Italian meatballs and vegetarian meatballs.
Ingredients
- beef mince 250g
- pork mince 250g
- onion 1, grated
- fennel seeds 2 tsp, crushed
- flat-leaf parsley a handful of leaves, chopped
- soft breadcrumbs 50g
- egg 1, beaten
- mozzarella 200g, cut into 1cm cubes
- garlic 2 cloves, sliced
- olive oil
- tinned cherry tomatoes 2 x 400g tins
- chilli flakes a pinch
- basil a small bunch, chopped
- cooked rigatoni or short or pasta to serve
Method
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Step 1
Put both the mince, onion, fennel, parsley, breadcrumbs and egg into a large bowl. Season really well and mix well with clean hands. Divide into 30 rough meatballs.
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Step 2
Poke a cube of mozzarella into the centre of each meatball and shape the mix around it so it’s completely buried. Leave them to sit while you make the sauce.
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Step 3
Fry the garlic in 2 tbsp oil for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes and simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce is thickened. Season.
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Step 4
Heat another tbsp oil in a clean frying pan and fry the meatballs until they’re browned all over. Do this in batches and scoop out onto a plate when they’re brown.
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Step 5
Stir the meatballs and basil into the sauce and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with rigatoni.
Try one of our other meatball recipes

Nutritional Information
- Kcals 557
- Fat 36.5g
- Saturates 15g
- Carbs 16.3g
- Sugars 9.9g
- Fibre 3g
- Protein 39.4g
- Salt 0.9g