Turkey meatballs with wholewheat spaghetti

Preparation

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  1. To make a thick tomato sauce, peel one of the onions and chop it finely. Peel the cloves of garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion and crushed garlic over a low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring as you do so, so that the onion is soft but not brown. Add the chopped tomatoes, the oregano, red pepper flakes and a good grinding of salt, stir together then cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes. 2. Tear the bread into small pieces and grind it into breadcrumbs in a food processor. Chop the remaining onion very finely indeed. Finely grate 45g of parmesan cheese. Chop the parsley leaves.
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  3. For the meatball mixture, beat the egg then add the milk and plenty of salt and black pepper and whisk again. Add the chopped onion, breadcrumbs, parsley and parmesan cheese and mix together. Put in the minced turkey and mix well until all of the ingredients are combined.
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  4. When the tomato sauce is almost ready, chop the basil leaves, reserving some for garnish, and stir into the sauce.
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  5. Tip the flour into a shallow bowl and season with salt and black pepper. Take a spoonful of the turkey mixture, shape it into a fairly small ball and roll it quickly in the flour until it is lightly covered. Repeat until you have used all the mixture.
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  6. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan and cook the meatballs in the fairly hot pan for just 2 minutes on each side to brown them
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  handle them carefully as they can break easily. Transfer them to the sauce pan one by one, gently pushing them down into the sauce, cover and simmer gently for about 8 minutes if your meatballs are small, or until the meatballs are cooked right through.
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  7. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet. [You can, of course, use any other pasta of your choice.] Serve the spaghetti in pasta bowls then spoon the sauce and meatballs on the top, garnished with chopped basil and grated parmesan.