My mum's meatballs

FOR years it was a complete mystery to me. My mum used to do these lovely meatballs in a fantastic sauce with spaghetti.
When I started learning to cook I once asked her how she made them. "Ah, there's a secret ingredient," she revealed.
Well, sadly my mum's no longer with us, but her meatball recipe has survived the test of time. It was first passed on to my dad, then my stepmum.
A couple of years ago I finally persuaded my stepmum to reveal the long-protected family mystery. "What's the secret recipe of the meatballs?" I asked her.
"Secret?" she said. "There's no secret - it's just a tin of Oxtail soup!"
Now I can impart the secret to the rest of the world.

INGREDIENTS
An equal amount of beef mince and pork sausage meat
Two cloves crushed garlic
A generous splash of Worcester sauce.
a teaspoon of salt and black pepper.

Mix these altogether and make into meatballs slightly smaller than the average tennis ball.
Put these in the Oven gas mark 4 or equivalent and cook for about 20 mins.
Keep checking as they start to brown.
Drain off the fat and then add a tin of Oxtail soup.
If you like, and I do, you can then add sliced mushrooms, a sliced celery stick or any vegetable you might prefer. I also used some frozen peas.
Return to the oven and cook for about an hour with the lid on.
Then remove lid for last half hour and stir on occasion.

For the spaghetti.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil
add spaghetti and cooked for 10 to 15 minutes until done.
Put in a colander and rinse through with hot water.
Return to pan and add about a tablespoon of tomato puree.
Mix together.
Put on a plate and add meatballs and sauce.

And that's it, simple but very tasty.

WITHERS reckons this blog is getting boring. I think he's just getting above his station because his effort is the 86th best read political blog in Britain. Out of 400.
Then again, people in politics can use statistiics for anything. As they say: There are lies, damn lies and statistics.
Bearing in mind Withers has little to do all day (unlike us busy sports journalists) I expect he's been nipping around the corner and logging into his own blog for hours at a time. He'll deny it, but isn't that the story with all politicians.
Remember Weapons of Mass Destruction?