Italian Meatballs in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

This is one of my favourite Italian dishes. It was originally made by my fiancée for me after remembering childhood recipes her father used to cook her. This is what she had to say about it...

"We had a tradition in our house where Mum cooked the Sunday roast and the evening meals in the week but Dad was in charge on a Saturday. Lunchtimes were mostly soup but the evening meals were where he got to experiment with 'exotic' dishes (this was the 1980s!). This was a dish which left a lasting memory so I wanted to recreate it for my loved one. Fortunately my Dad cooked like a TV chef with everything in little bowls and I used to wash up so I could remember the ingredients, between us we've worked out quantities so it tastes delicious and is now a recipe we want to share."

Italian Meatballs in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

6 good sausages (400g)
1 Small tub of double cream500ml passata1 Small glass of white wine1 Tablespoon olive oil4 cloves of garlic - pressed1.5 small onions - finely dicedFresh basilSalt and pepper to taste

Method

Skin sausages and chop into small meatball sized chunks (4/5 per sausage)

Finely chop the onions and mince the garlic ready for the pan.

Heat the olive oil in a pan add the onions and garlic and stir regularly until they soften but do not brown. 

Then add the passata and the double cream stir until mixed while warming to a simmer.

 Add the sausage chunks, salt and pepper and continue stirring (otherwise it forms a skin) for around 15 minutes so the sausages are cooked. 

Add the wine and continue simmering and stirring to reduce back to sauce consistency. Taste - add further salt & pepper if required and the fresh basil (leaves torn into roughly 1cm pieces, stalks finely chopped).

Serve with Pasta and some fresh Basil.

Enjoy!