Pork meatballs with Fennel and Cannellini beans
An easy summer one-pan supper dish
Ingredients
- 300 g Cumberland sausage meat
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 15 g butter
- 2 small banana shallots 1 sliced and one finely chopped
- 100 ml white wine
- 1 large lemon cut into segments
- 300 g cannellini beans (cooked and drained weight if you are using dried)
- 75 g cherry tomatoes
- 75 g black olives stoned if necessary
- 1 large fennel or two small heads. Trim and cut into segments
- 1 tsp fennel seeds lightly crushed
- 1 handful fresh thyme leaves picked
Instructions
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Pre-heat the oven to 180c
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Add half the fennel seeds to the sausagemeat and mash in with a fork or your fingers. Once evenly distributed, divide the meat up into 6-8 meatballs, rolling gently in the palm of your hand
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Put the meatballs on a baking tray and pop in the oven while you prepare the fennel
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Melt the butter with a little of the oil in a skillet or ovenproof frying pan
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Add the fresh fennel and sliced shallot and cook over a moderate heat until the fennel starts to soften (2-5 minutes)
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Add the wine and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for another 2-5 minutes
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Add half the lemon wedges and drizzle over the remaining oil
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Take the meatballs out of the oven and replace with the fennel. Cook the fennel for 10 minutes till the edges start to caramelise and the wine has reduced by about 50%
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Stir the fennel mixture and add the meatballs to the pan. Return to the oven for 15-10 minutes.
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Add the tomatoes and thyme leaves to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.
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Mix the chopped shallot, olives and remaining fennel seed with the beans and squeeze in the juice from the remaining lemon wedges
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Take the pan from the oven and remove the meatballs. Gently stir through the beans, season to taste and pop the meatballs back in the pan to serve
