An easy way to round up a hearty meal for your friends or family and include some of your 5 a day!

If you’re feeding children, remember that they don’t need to eat as much as an adult and need kid-sized portions. If you’re cooking for fewer people you can simply reduce the quantities, or why not make the full amount and freeze extra portions for another day?

Serves: 4 adults

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients: 1 medium onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

200g lean lamb/ pork/ beef mince

1 egg

1 tbsp olive oil

400g chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

200g closed cup mushrooms sliced

1 peppers, any colour chopped

200g macaroni (any pasta shape is fine)

What to do: 1. Mix some of the chopped onion and garlic with the mince. Add the egg in order to bind the mixture. Shape the mince into small balls about half the size of a golf ball.

2. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and brown the meatballs on all sides. Remove and put onto a plate.

3. Add the remaining onion to the frying pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add theremaining garlic and cook for another minute.

4. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs, mushrooms and peppers to the pan with 150ml water. Bring to the boil, then add the meatballs. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

5. About 10 minutes before serving, put the pasta on to cook in plenty of boiling water. Serve with the meatballs and tomato sauce.

Tips: 1. Try using turkey mince as a lower fat alternative to lamb.

2. Add a grated carrot or courgette to the meatball mixture to make them go a bit further, and to add more vegetables.

3. Serve with wholegrain brown rice as an alternative to pasta, though remember that it takes 25-30 minutes to cook. Nutritional information: Per adult portion (i.e. ¼ recipe) 1339kJ / 320kcal 19g protein 46g carbohydrate of which 9g sugars 8g fat of which 0.5g saturates 4g fibre 70mg sodium equivalent to 0.2g salt Suitable for freezing