The Best Hubby!

As I said in the last post this has been a rotten week at work. It has been quite stressful and not terribly pleasant and, quite frankly, I fully intended to resign more than once. But... some sound advice, the promise of some useful assistance this week, and lots of support from Hubby have got me through. I came in from work on Tuesday exhausted, quite upset and not really able to see a way to the surface. My stomach was churning, I felt quite ill and the last thing I wanted to do was have to come in and cook dinner, deal with the kids and do the bedtime routine. To say that Hubby stepped up to the plate would be a massive understatement. Before I even had my shoes off he had a glass of wine poured for me, he dealt with the kids the whole night AND cooked a wonderful dinner! He used the mince I'd grabbed out of the freezer and searched through my recipe books for something that we had the ingredients for. He ended up using a book that was published while we were both still in primary school and it could only be described as "retro" but it proves that some of the less fashionable (and less pretty) cookbooks really hold up over time.

So, here's the fabulous meal that Hubby made. He said it was easy, I say it was delicious!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Wonderful Ways To Prepare Italian Dishes by Marion Mansfield

Serves 4

250g minced (ground) beef

250g salami, minced (he used the sliced salami and chopped it up quite small)

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 egg

dry breadcrumbs (didn't have any int he cupboard so he made fresh ones- after ringing me to find out how LOL)

1/3 cup oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons basil

2 cups hot beef stock

375g spaghetti

boiling salted water

Combine meat, salami, grated cheese, parsley and egg to a soft mixture, form into small balls and roll in breadcrumbs. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan, add meat balls and cook, turning until browned on all sides, lift out, drain and keep warm.

Heat remaining oil and the butter in a flameproof casserole (he just used a frypan) . Add onion and saute until transparent. Add tomatoes and basil, over and cook over low heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add meat balls and hot stock to the casserole (frypan), baste well, cover and cook for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a pan of boiling salted water for 15 minutes or until tender, drain well, add to the casserole, gently stir through and serve.