Oven-Baked Italian Meatballs

This dish is packed with superfree foods, and as it's all cooked in the one dish it'll cut down on the washing up. You could also use extra lean turkey mince instead of beef for the meatballs.

Serves 4
Syns per serving: Free on Extra Easy and Original

Ingredients
2 large onions, finely chopped
500gm extra lean minced beef
2tsp dried Italian mixed herbs
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Freshly ground black pepper
400gm can chopped tomatoes with herbs
1tbsp granulated sweetener
500gm carton passata
150ml hot vegetable stock
2 medium courgettes, trimmed and cut into chunks
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180/Gas Mark 6.

2. Mix together half of the chopped onions, all of the tomatoes, sweetener, passata, vegetable stock, courgettes and red pepper in a large roasting tin and season well. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 50 minutes.

3. Put the other half of the chopped onions in a bowl with the beef, Italian herbs, garlic and some black pepper, then mix well and divide into 20 portions. Roll each portion into a ball, place on a plate, cover and chill until ready to use.

4. After 50 minutes, remove the foil from the roasting tin, stir in the meatballs and bake for a further 40 minutes. 

5. Serve with your favourite pasta shapes, remembering to add the Syns accordingly if following the Original plan.