Meatballs of fire

Herbs have finally taken off in my vegetable patch, and the fact that it's taken eight months for any real life to show in this desert garden is cause for celebration. Why did I bother attempting a veggie patch at all? I had one as a child and food was always more exciting - and tastier - when I picked it myself. I have so much basil right now, I'm giving it away, and pasta is the order of the day. Today's special...

Spaghetti and Meatballs Arabiatta

500g lean beef mince

1 medium onion, coarsely grated

Olive oil

1 tblsp milled flax seed

3 tblsp warm water

1 tsp potato flour

1 tsp dried oregano

Salt and black pepper

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tin organic chopped tomatoes

1 tsp Heinz tomato paste (this is definitely gluten-free)

1tsp sugar

1 small handful fresh oregano leaves

1 handful fresh basil leaves

Gluten-free pasta of your choice (I used Rizopia Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti)

Sautée the grated onion in olive oil until slightly caramelised. This helps with binding the meatballs a bit. Once the onion is cool, get stuck in and mix it into the mince. Mix the flax seed with the warm water and stir it until it has the consistency of egg white. It works well as a binding agent if you can't eat egg. Mix this into the mince mixture one teaspoon at a time as you don't want the mince to get too wet. Add the teaspoon of potato flour, which I find helps things come together nicely in place of the usual flour or bread. Mix in the oregano, salt and pepper and you're ready to roll. Use about a tablespoon of the mix for each ball and then dust these lightly in potato flour before browning the outsides nicely in a hot pan. Set the meatballs aside while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, sautée the chilli and garlic quickly, then add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and sugar. The sugar just takes the edge off the acidity of the tomatoes. Add the meatballs to the sauce and leave to simmer while you cook the pasta. When the pasta is ready, stir the fresh oregano and some of the basil into the sauce. Serve topped with fresh basil.