meatballs for .99p

I had a very jolly evening in a wine bar with some friends last night (we had the best creamy and oh-so-goopy goat’s cheese!) so I needed a second breakfast at around 11:30. Doing the shopping hungry is always a bit of a risk, but today I lucked out; the new butcher shop in town sells meatballs for .99p. Though I don’t actually know the going rate for a single meatball, this feels like incredible value and I bought two on a whim whilst buying sausages for our supper. Across the street in the greengrocer, I lucked into finding some spaghetti squash, which is something that I always think you must buy when you see it as you never know when you’ll find it again. A plan largely driven by my stomach was beginning to form, and I also bought a bunch of basil and some beautiful cheery tomatoes.

When I got back home, I popped the meatballs and a handful of tomatoes onto a roasting tray and then into the oven. I chopped a stem full of basil leaves into ribbons and put them in a bowl with salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil. As I waited for the oven to do its thing, I cut a piece of bread and put it in the toaster. Then I waited. Impatiently. Hungrily. When the tomatoes started to collapse I plucked them out of the oven with some tongs and then switched the oven onto grill, to give my balls a bit of crisp. I mixed the tomatoes into the basil and let their hot juice soak into the greens. Et voila, sauce. When the meatballs formed a nice brown crust on top, I placed them in the bowl with my sauce, grated some parmesan on top, and then buttered my toast, which I used primarily as an edible spoon. It was everything I hoped it to be.

David spent £3.59 at McDonald’s this morning on his slightly-hungover breakfast. Whilst I have no way of being 100% sure, at .99p/meatball, I think my little mid-morning indulgence came in cheaper than that, and I know for a fact that it was tastier and more delightful. Perhaps I should keep a dozen meatballs in the freezer for other mornings when the gnawing need for a second breakfast just won’t quit.