This is a magnificently tasty family favourite of ours, there is very little preparation required and is a good, hearty, quick to prepare meal. 45 minutes from fridge to plate is  a real bonus and one pot cooking means less washing up too!

I first saw this appear in the Lidl Ireland ‘7 meals for €50’ booklet, it has since appeared in the Paul Flynn / Lidl Ireland cookbook (a great buy for family budget cooking). On recommendation from others (see Eimear’s blog for more additions) I’ve added a couple of ingredients which really add a new dimension to the taste and of course I always try to put in some extra veg where possible. This recipe serves 4 with enough left over for someones lunch the following day.

Ingredients – Serves 4

• 24 meatballs (I use the Lidl ones, slightly smaller than golf ball size, adjust to your requirements)
• 1 x 420g can of Baked Beans in tomato sauce
• 1 x 420g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 x Medium onion, chopped
• 2 x Yellow Pepper chopped
• 3 x Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
• 1 x tsp Paprika
• 1 x tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 x Chicken stock cube
• Olive Oil
• Seasoning (but remember there is plenty of salt in the stock cube)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160C / 310F
• Over a medium heat, add the olive oil, chopped onion & garlic to a frying pan. Cook gently until soft & brown (about 5mins)
• When the onion starts to colour, add the meatballs and brown them off tossing or turning until they are a decent golden colour all over.
• Transfer to a large enough casserole dish, add the tin of tomatoes, spices, stock cube. Give it a decent stir to make sure the ingredients are well combined.
• Add the chopped pepper and tin of baked beans. Give it a quick stir, put the lid on the casserole and lash it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

The recipe says to serve it with creamy mash, but we also have it with rice. A decent crusty bread is recommended for mopping!

This gets a 👍👍👍👍 from us. but thinking about it, I wouldn’t have put it up if it wasn’t decent.

As always, try it and tell me how you get on or let me know any changes you would make!