Step 1Make the meatballs. Mix mince, onion, mustard, egg, breadcrumbs and some seasoning in a bowl. Shape into 16 balls, put on a plate or baking tray, cover and chill until needed.
Step 2For the sauce, heat oil in a small frying pan over medium-low heat and cook onion for 10min until softened, adding garlic for the final 2min. Scrape into the bowl of the slow cooker.
Step 3In a small bowl mix the cornflour with 1tbsp stock to form a smooth paste, then whisk back into the remaining stock. Add to the slow cooker then stir in the other sauce ingredients and plenty of seasoning.
Step 4Add meatballs to the slow cooker (don’t worry if they’re not all submerged in the sauce), cover with the lid and cook on low for 6hr.
Step 5 Serve the meatballs and sauce topped with basil and Parmesan, if using, with spaghetti and/or greens on the side.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
