Tuna meatballs with courgetti, spaghetti & tomato sauce

Crispy & delicious tuna meatballs are served atop noodles & ‘zoodles’ (courgette/zucchini noodles) with an easy homemade tomato sauce. Ready in 1 hour.

So much going on in this delicious dinner, I’m not sure where to start. All I can say is, despite having lots of elements to it, I did get this on the table in under an hour! So it can’t be too tricky, right? And it’s certainly yummy! These tuna meatballs with spaghetti, courgetti, and tomato sauce, got a big thumbs up from everyone in my household. 

Tuna ‘meatballs’

First, the tuna meatballs. I’ve had my eye on making something like these for ages. I ate some a while ago that were made with minced fresh tuna, which were amazing but did seem like a waste of delicious (and expensive!) fresh tuna. Once I’d figured out that you really could make them with tinned tuna, it was just a matter of time till they appeared on our plates. 

I’m delighted to say that the tuna meatballs were both super-easy, and highly delicious – and 99% as good as the fresh tuna ones at a fraction of the price. I will definitely be making them again! Whilst cooking them I was a little concerned that they would fall apart in the pan to create a crispy tuna pancake, but they held together beautifully (as you can see in the photo). I used a mixture of breadcrumbs and ground almonds to bind the tuna meatballs together, partly because DH can’t eat much bread, and partly to add a slight nutty flavour. They were a resounding success!

Spaghetti and sauce

I cooked some spaghetti and tomato sauce to go with the tuna meatballs. I also decided to make some ‘courgetti’ (‘zoodles’ in America, apparently) to bulk out the pasta without adding extra carbs. It also meant I could sneak in another vegetable while no-one was looking! There are some very elaborate spiralisers available but our hand-held budget spiraliser did an excellent job on the courgettes.

All-in-all, this was definitely a winner of a dinner. My daughter Kipper has avoided everything tomato for ages, but even she ate the tomato sauce and said that,

“Now that I’m a big girl I like the tomato sauce.”

Hooray! She was also a big fan of the courgetti, although having just returned from a holiday in the USA, insisted on calling the courgettes “zucchini”. Or as she says it, “Zoooo-kee-nee! It’s zoooo-kee-nee Mummy!”

This made enough for 3, although there were probably enough tuna meatballs for 4. 

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Tuna 'meatballs' with courgetti, spaghetti & tomato sauce

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5 from 1 vote

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Total Time 1 hr

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine European

Servings 3

Calories 577 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the tomato sauce

• 1 medium onion
• 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
• 400 g tin peeled tomatoes (approx. 14 oz)

For the tuna meatballs

• 320 g tinned tuna in spring water (approx. 11 oz)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lime, zest only
• 1 slice bread, whizzed into breadcrumbs (approx. 40g)
• 25 g ground almonds (approx. ¼ cup)
• 1 medium egg
• Pinch black pepper
• Few tablespoon olive oil for frying

For the courgetti & spaghetti

• 2 large courgettes
• 150-180 g spaghetti

Instructions

 

First, make the tomato sauce

• Peel and dice the onion. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat and saute the onion for 4-5 minutes until soft. Add the tinned tomatoes, and break them up with a spoon.
• Simmer, partly covered, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes until well cooked. Process briefly with a stick blender if you prefer a smooth consistency.

While the sauce is cooking, make the tuna meatballs

• Drain the tinned tuna, and place in a mixing bowl with the olive oil, lime zest, breadcrumbs, almonds, egg and pepper. Mix and mash with a fork until everything is well amalgamated.
• With wet hands, form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a walnut. You should get around 20 balls.
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy frying pan and cook the tuna meatballs, turning frequently, until crispy and brown on all sides - you will probably need to do this in batches. Once cooked, drain on absorbent paper and keep warm.

For the noodles

• Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet - mine took 11 minutes in boiling water.
• Use a spiraliser to cut the courgettes into long strands. Steam or microwave for a couple of minutes until just cooked.
• Drain the spaghetti and toss with the courgetti (zoodles).

To serve

• Serve the spaghetti and courgetti topped with a spoonful of tomato sauce and a few tuna meatballs. Enjoy!

Notes

Approx. per serving: 577 calories, 29g fat, 16g protein, 67g carbs

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Tuna 'meatballs' with courgetti, spaghetti & tomato sauce

Amount per Serving

Calories

577

% Daily Value*

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword courgette, pasta, tuna

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Other fabulous recipes using spaghetti include beetroot pasta with yogurt, spinach and artichoke pesto spaghetti, and asparagus and oyster mushrooms with lemon-pinenut-pesto spaghetti.