Lorraine Pascale's Sweet and Sour Pork Meatballs

Yesterday, my mum asked me to make dinner as she wouldn't be home until late, and naturally I jumped at the chance to cook the family something they'd never tried before. I first discovered this recipe when I was with my boyfriend and we wanted to try something new. We spotted this recipe in Lorraine's book, 'Fast, Fresh and Easy Food', and being students, the title definitely appealed to us, so we decided that we'd give it a go! It didn't require too many 'extreme' ingredients as most of them were staples from the kitchen, and it seemed a fairly simple recipe. After about half an hour, our very own masterpiece had been created! It was so yummy and uncomplicated to make that I decided to try it again and hope that our success wasn't just a one off. It turns out it was a resounding success with my family who said it tasted so much better than any Chinese food they'd ever had! I don't know if they were just being extra kind as my family, but even I have to admit it tantalised the tastebuds! 

The final piece!

INGREDIENTS 
(Serves 4)

Pork Balls
6 large herby sausages
75g dried breadcrumbs
1 medium egg
Vegetable oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 garlic clove
1 red pepper
425g tin of pineapple chunks in syrup
10 squidges of tomato ketchup (75g ish)
5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2-3 squidges of honey
1 lime

Some of the ingredients I used. As I have said
before, I had most of these in the cupboard so
didn't have to buy them, making it a fairly
cheap recipe!

Crunchy Peanut Rice
1 cup easy cook rice
75g roasted, salted peanuts
1/2 bunch spring onions
knob of butter
salt and pepper

METHOD

Lorraine Pascale's 'Fast, Fresh and Easy Food' can be
found in most bookshops and online. I definitely
recommend it as it has some fantastic and easy
recipes!

• Snip the skin off the sausages and discard. Put the sausage meat in a large bowl with the breadcrumbs, then crack the egg, season with salt and pepper and then mix everything together well. (I like to use my hands here - it's quicker and more fun!).
• Drizzle some oil into a large pan.
• Roll the sausage mix into 20 equal sized
  balls. Add them to the heated pan and cook for about 8 minutes, turning them
  every so often so they brown all over.
• Put the kettle on to boil for the rice.
• Peel and finely chop the garlic, then
  finely slice the red pepper and set aside
  for the sauce.
• Tip the rice into the pan and once the kettle has boiled add 2 cups of boiling water (from the same cup you used to measure the rice). Cook the rice for as long as it says on the packet - usually until there is no water left in the pan.
• Once the meatballs have browned evenly, add the prepared garlic and pepper. Then add the juice from the tinned pineapple, but only half of the chunks, the ketchup, balsamic vinegar, honey and squeeze in the lime juice. Stir and leave to cook for another 8 minutes, giving it a quick stir every so often.
• While this cooks, tip the peanuts into a bowl and bash with the end of a rolling pin and bash them up a bit. Trim and slice the spring onions and reserve for serving.
• Check that the rice is cooked, add a knob of butter, salt and pepper and the nuts. Stir and cover with the lid to keep warm.
• Check the pork balls are piping hot and cooked through, and that the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly, then it's time to serve.
• Divide the crunchy peanut rice between four plates and top with the pork balls and sauce. Add the spring onions and enjoy!

For me the recipe was mainly very clear, as the step by step process helped me keep on top of things. The only detail that I found was a bit ambiguous was the measurement of a 'squidge'. However the meal tasted so good at the end that the unspecific quantities didn't seem a problem. The outcome was an extremely scrummy, sweet and sour dish with clashing textures of the crunchy peanuts against the melt in the mouth meatballs. I can safely say I will be making this dish again and again!