Earlier this week I shared a peek at my easy peasy meaty meatballs on Instagram with the excited comment that I was looking forward to posting my first savoury recipe ever… then I was reminded about the cheese & vegemite scrolls. Oops. What I was thinking of as I captioned that photo is how I spend a lot of time sharing baking recipes and I was excited to finally be publishing something that would put dinner on the table.

For me baking takes me back to my childhood. To afternoons of making coconut macarons and rock cakes. To my mum’s old Sunbeam mixer that didn’t miss a beat no matter how many times I put it to work. To brewing a pot of tea for my Dad to give him afternoon tea at the end of his work day and his Dad jokes. “That tea’s been drawing so long it could be the Mona Lisa by now.” boom-tish.

There are so many happy memories wrapped up in those moments and baking with my own little ones gives me a chance to enjoy that feeling from my own childhood all over again. It’s for that reason that the sweet recipes outnumber the savouries here.

But, the meal cooking needs to be done too and on those nights when I’m short of time or tired or both, or the kids want to cook their own dinner, this is one of the recipes I turn to. These are eaten so quickly in my home that I nearly called them the ‘blink and you’ll miss them meatballs’ and I hope you enjoy them too.

tiny & little’s easy peasy meaty meatballs

Ingredients

500g beef mince
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1 garlic clove, crushed
olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c

Place the mince, herbs and garlic in a bowl and mix together with your hands

Pour olive oil on your palms then make your meatballs by rolling about a tablespoon at a time

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and brown the meatballs, leaving space between them as they fry

Place the meatballs on a baking tray and put them on the top shelf of your pre-heated oven for approx 10 mins until they’re cooked through

They’re great served with a simple salad of cherry tomatoes, cucumber and carrot. Enjoy!