You know when you have those evenings when you just really don’t feel like cooking? Well this one fits the bill fairly well and for me uses an ingredient I don’t normally use.  Now, the tinned section of the supermarket is not one I frequent very often but I did happen to wander down there the other week and picked up a tin of meatballs.

You know the ones you had as a kid at school.  Let’s be honest these aren’t top quality butchers shop style meatballs, the tin I bought cost me 39p… but this isn’t about that, it’s proving that ‘Good food doesn’t have to be difficult’ and can be made on a budget. So you’ll need;

• 1 tin of meatballs
• Water
• 150g Mushrooms
• 1 red onion
• Garlic powder
• A splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 20ml tomato ketchup
• 100g broccoli florets
• ½ an oxo cube

To get started cut your onion and mushrooms into small pieces and in a large heavy bottomed pan sauté them until they are beginning to soften. Give them a good amount of seasoning and add your garlic powder.  Once the onions and mushrooms have softened you can the tin of meatballs to pan followed by the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and oxo.

Give it all a good stir and add the water, use the tin for the amount. Finally add the broccoli florets and let everything simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.  Just before you’re ready to go turn the heat up and allow the sauce to thicken.  I had this just on its own but if you’re feeding more people it would go excellently well with pasta or even courgette ‘spaghetti’.

PG