Meatball Tomato and Mozzeralla Tray Bake

It's that time of year again - football season and winter.   When meals need to be quick and easy due to weeknight footy training, not to mention Saturday is game day and then there is always our social life to fit in.  

So it officially started this weekend for us.  Two football matches on Saturday (one in Carrum Downs and the other in Hastings).  Needless to say Saturday was busy until around 2pm. Saturday Night we went out for dinner with our beautiful friends, Tanya and Pete, whom we actually met through football.  We were all being "restaurant Guinea Pigs" as I had chosen a restaurant that none of us had been to before.

We had some amazing flavours at the Sun Wah last night - definitely had the taste buds jumping.  Everything on the menu sounded delicious so we all settled for the "Our Chef Degustation Menu".  Eight courses of amazing flavours and the presentation - wow it was magnificent.  This was the second time we had sat down for a Degustation feast - the first time was at Ten Minutes By Tractor.  I have to say we really enjoyed our first experience of a Degustation menu at the beautiful restaurant and winery in Main Ridge so needless to say I was definitely eager to see how the Chinese laid it our.  Our feast at the Sun Wah was as follows:

Amuse Bouche

Duck & Pork Croquette w. black truffle mayo

First Course

Ginger pear scallops, crispy pork belly, golden pearl sago, chilli jam

Second Course

Blue swimmer crab dumpling, Yarra Valley salmon caviar, clear consomme

Third Course

Twice cooked lamb rib, chilli jam, coriander

Fourth Course

Hopkins River grass fed eye fillet, eggplant, snake green beans, snow peas, mushrooms. teriyaki jus

Served with Special Fried Rice

Fifth Course

Roast Peking duck, steamed crepe, pickles, cucumber, hoi sin

Sixth Course

48° poached salmon, black bean, soy dressing with

dry fried spicy green beans

Seventh Course

Stuffed chicken w. minced prawns and mandarin jus

Eighth Course

Indulgence sharing dessert platter

Followed By Coffee and Tea

and Petit Fours 

Tonight's dinner truly had to be worthy of a king to match up with the food we ate last night.  LOL I am only kidding - tonight's dinner needed to be the perfect homemade meal.  A balanced meat and vegetable dish with lots of flavours.  This is a dish I have made a few times and it always goes down a treat.  Not only is it really easy, a fabulous one pot wonder, it is quick and manages to disappear.

Meatball Tomato and Mozzeralla Tray Bake

(Recipe adpated from Weight Watchers Australia)

Serves: 4

Smart Points per serve: 9

500 grams lean beef mince

3 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons fresh lemon rind, finely grated

2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes

1/2 cup fresh wholegrain breadcrumbs (approx 2 slices)

1 egg

salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 medium red capsicum, chopped

2 medium zucchini, chopped

cooking spray

400 grams canned cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoons baby capers, rinsed, drained

100 grams bocconcini, torn

1/2 bunch fresh basil, leaves

Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan-forced.

Combine mince, shallots, parsley, rind, chilli flakes, breadcrumbs and egg in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.  Roll level tablespoons of mixture into 24 meatballs.

Place meatballs, capsicum and zucchini in a large baking dish. Lightly spray with cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes or until meatballs have browned.

Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, paste, garlic and capers in a bowl.

Add tomato mixture to meatballs and stir to combine. Top with bocconcini and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and meatballs are cooked through.

Serve sprinkled with basil.

(Click here for a printable version of this recipe)