The weekend cook: Thomasina Miers’ recipes for giant pork meatballs and apple eccles cakes

As the days get shorter, I am reminded of the food we ate as children after coming home from school in the dark. My mother often made meatballs from the mince that was a stalwart of her weekly shop, and I loved to shape them for her. These days, I make larger ones than she did, mainly because it’s quicker. The recipe is simple but incredibly good, packed with herbs and cheese.

Eccles cakes are another dish I’m often inspired to make after a trip home. In recent years, both St John in London and Pump Street Bakery in Orford, Suffolk, have reinvigorated the traditional recipe, making it even more mouth-watering. Do give them a whirl: you’ll be in for a treat.

Giant pork meatballs in tomato sauce

I rinse the sauce off the tomatoes, to get rid of that tinny flavour, but use them just as they are, if you prefer. The shaped meatballs will benefit from 20-30 minutes in the fridge, but don’t worry if you’re pushed for time. Serves four.

3 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
3 400g cans plum tomatoes, drained
2 bay leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp capers, rinsed of brine or salt
1-2 pinches brown sugar (optional)

For the meatball
600g minced pork
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 small sprig fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
60g fresh breadcrumbs
Zest of 1 lemon
1 heaped tbsp Dijon mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp olive oil
70g grated Parmesan

Make the tomato sauce first. Warm the oil in a deep pan on a medium-low heat, then gently fry the garlic just until it begins to colour at the edges. Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon, then stir in the bay leaves, season generously and leave to simmer gently for 45 minutes. Half an hour into the cooking, add the capers and taste the sauce – add a pinch or two of brown sugar, if you think it needs it, and a few tablespoons of water if the sauce looks too thick and dry. By the end, it should be thick and silky.

While the sauce is cooking, get on with the meatballs. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the oil and half the Parmesan, season generously, then mix with your hands until well amalgamated. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan, then saute a teaspoon of the mix until cooked and check it’s seasoned sufficiently. Shape the remaining meatball mix into eight balls then, if you have time, refrigerate them for 20-30 minutes, to firm up.

Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Pour the remaining oil into the frying pan, heat over a medium-high flame, then lightly brown the meatballs on all sides. Transfer to a baking dish just large enough to hold them, pour on the sauce and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes, until firm to the touch.

Serve with wide pasta ribbons, perhaps with a rocket and parmesan salad on the side, dressed simply with extra-virgin olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Or, for a real treat, eat the meatballs on toast.

Apple eccles cakes with apple caramel

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Use all-butter puff pastry, not the stuff made with other fats, and you’ll have almost as gorgeous an eccles cake as you would if you’d made them with homemade pastry. Makes about 16.

50g very soft butter, plus 1 knob extra
100g dark brown muscovado sugar
100g currants
4 eating apples, cored, peeled and coarsely grated
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp freshly ground allspice
A few pinches ground cinnamon
3 tbsp cider vinegar (or brandy)
2 375g blocks ready-made puff pastry, chilled
1 egg, beaten
40g caster sugar

Combine the butter, sugar, currants, apples, spices and vinegar in a bowl, leave to sit for 10 minutes, then strain through a sieve into a saucepan, squeezing out the juices. Add a pinch of salt to the apple mix.

Heat the oven to 175C/350F/gas mark 4. Roll out the pastry to about 5mm thick and use a 10cm cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as you can (you should get about eight from each block). Spoon heaped tablespoons of apple mix into the centre of each pastry circle, then bring up the sides of the pastry over the top of the filling and pinch together the edges to seal. Flatten each cake by pressing it down firmly with a palm, turn over so the folds are at the bottom, then slash the top of each cake two or three times and brush all over with beaten egg. Put on a chilled baking tray, then put in the freezer for 30 minutes, to chill.

You can now bag them and leave them in the freezer, to be cooked frozen whenever you want (just remove however many you want, brush again with beaten egg and cook as below, allowing a little longer in the oven because they’ll be frozen solid to start with). To cook them straight away, brush with more egg, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 15 minutes, until golden and crisp. Leave the cakes to cool slightly and, while they are resting, simmer the juices for five to 10 minutes, until they’ve reduced to a rich caramel. Stir in the extra knob of butter and serve with the warm cakes.

And for the rest of the week…

I often make the meatballs in large batches, but only go as far as browning them before freezing them with their sauce in small bags, all ready to be baked straight from frozen – it’s a great timesaving meal for the children. The sauce also works in lasagne, with plain pasta or in moussaka; or add some warming Middle Eastern spices and use it for baked eggs and peppers, or with spiced lamb dishes. I always keep good-quality puff pastry in the freezer, because it makes great impromptu weekend pizza bases.