Mini porcupine balls with vegetable sauce

Serves:

Makes 24 meatballs

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 3/4 cup (150g) uncooked white rice
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 cup zucchini, grated
• 1/2 cup carrot, grated

• 1 large jar (680g) tomato passata 
• 1 tsp mixed herbs (optional)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 cup zucchini, grated
• 1/2 cup carrot, grated
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup pumpkin, grated
• 1/2 cup of water

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated. 
• 1 pkt spaghetti

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease a large, deep casserole dish and set aside.

Place all of the ingredients for the porcupine balls in a large bowl. Give everything a good mix with your hands, until combined. 

Place all of the sauce ingredients into the casserole dish, and mix through with a spoon.

Using a dessert spoon, scoop up individual portions of the mince mixture and roll into little balls using your hands. Pop each ball into the casserole dish of sauce. Repeat until all of the mince mixture has been used up. Sprinkle parmesan cheese evenly over the dish.

Cover the casserole dish with a lid or wrap firmly with aluminium foil. Place in the oven and cook for 1 hour, or until balls are cooked through. 

Serve in individual bowls over freshly boiled spaghetti.

Serving Suggestions

Note

• To save time, you could grate all of your vegetables in a food processor.
• You can serve this dish on a bed of mashed potato, instead of spaghetti, if you prefer.
• For those who love white meat, you can also make this recipe with chicken mince.
• Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over each bowl before serving, for extra cheesy goodness.
• For toddlers to practise their pincer grip, you can serve up Popcorn chicken. Just go easy on the salt.
• If you have a little one that loves corn chips then this Kids' nachos is sure to be a dinner winner.
• If pizza is on the menu then why not make some Pussycat pizzas? The kids will love those cute faces.
• Pasta is always great for the little ones and this Healthy macaroni cheese is tasty and delicious.
• You can make these Salmon cakes and sneak a little extra vegetables like corn or carrots into the patties.
• If you have a little one that loves meat then these Meatloaf cupcakes are delicious with a mashed potato topping.
• This recipe was created by Jodie Clarke for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.