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Slow Cooker Pork and Apple Meatballs
Sweet and juicy pork and apple meatballs slow cooked in a tomato and red pepper sauce
Prep Time
30
mins
Cook Time
4
hrs
Total Time
4
hrs
30
mins
Course:
Main Course
Cuisine:
Italian
Keyword:
apple, comfort food, pasta, pork
Servings:
6
people
Calories:
401
kcal
Equipment
Slow Cooker (5L)
Ingredients
Meatballs
500
g
pork mince
1
red apple
1
medium onion
1
slice
bread
toasted
1
egg
beaten
2
garlic cloves
crushed
2
tsp
dried sage
1
tsp
salt
½
tsp
ground black pepper
2
tbsp
oil
4
tbsp
flour
Sauce
1
onion
diced
1
red pepper
diced
2
cloves of garlic
crushed
350
g
tomato passata
4
tbsp
tomato paste
400
g
chopped tomatoes
canned
2
tsp
dried basil
1
chicken stock cube
100
ml
water
hot
½
tsp
salt
½
tsp
ground black pepper
1
tsp
sugar
2
tbsp
flour
To Serve
Fresh basil
chopped
Pappardelle pasta
Metric
-
US
Instructions
Meatballs
Toast the slice of bread then grate or pulse into breadcrumbs.
Peel and grate the apple and onion, crush the garlic cloves and place into a mixing bowl along with the breadcrumbs, sage, salt and pepper.
Add the pork mince to the mixing bowl, pour over half of the beaten egg and combine all of the ingredients well.
Shape the pork mince mixture into balls of 4cm (1.5 inch) diameter. This recipe will make approximately 24 meatballs.
Put the flour in a separate bowl and then roll each meatball in the flour to evenly coat each one.
Heat a little oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the meatballs to the pan and ensure that they're browned and sealed (approx 1-2 minutes).
Sauce
Add the onion, pepper and garlic to the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the flour to coat the vegetables evenly.
Pour in the tomato passata and chopped tomatoes, then add the tomato paste, basil, salt, pepper and sugar.
Dissolve the chicken stock cube in 100ml of hot water and pour into the slow cooker with the other ingredients. Stir all the ingredients through well.
Gently add the meatballs into the pot and ensure they are submerged in the sauce. Set the cooker to
high
for 4 hours, or
low
for 7.
Serve with pappardelle pasta and chopped basil on top.
Notes
Gluten Free
Replace the plain flour with cornflour, and the breadcrumbs with gluten free breadcrumbs to make this recipe gluten free.
Nutrition Information
Excludes pasta.
Nutrition
Calories:
401
kcal
|
Carbohydrates:
29
g
|
Protein:
19
g
|
Fat:
24
g
|
Saturated Fat:
7
g
|
Cholesterol:
87
mg
|
Sodium:
1030
mg
|
Potassium:
905
mg
|
Fiber:
5
g
|
Sugar:
13
g
|
Vitamin A:
1215
IU
|
Vitamin C:
45
mg
|
Calcium:
90
mg
|
Iron:
4
mg