Veggie Pasta (with meat balls)

I wrote this in March, I don't know why I didn't publish it then but here it is now.  

This is another easy last minute dinner that can be partially prepared in advance so that all you need to do when you want to eat is cook some pasta, meatballs and add them to the heated sauce. 

Cooking pasta is easy, so I won't go into that, but just keep in mind that a human adult portion of pasta is 75g and it's so easy to go over that unless you are careful. Since we are aiming for healthier eating portion control is very important! 

The veggie sauce is so simple to make, and it keeps well if you want to make a few days at once or prepare well in advance. This is another 'what's in you fridge, babe?' recipe. The basic method is this:

Slice two onions, smash up and chop two cloves of garlic and add these to a hot, oiled pan till they are clear, then add any veggies that you like. I favour any combination of celery, tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet corn, leeks or courgette. Add your veggies and cook them down, then add a tin of chopped tomatoes (have another one to hand if you're making it in advance) and let this bubble away till it looks pleasing, I then season it with dried mixed herbs, salt and pepper. Brian also favours some chilli flakes, so if he's been good I oblige him. The reason for the second tin of tomatoes is that when you hear this through again it might become quite dry, so you may need to add the second tin to make it edible. 

So that's pasta and sauce down. Now meatballs. There are two ways to do this and I'm going to give them their own posts in the name of completeness, but my two favourite recipes are for beef meatballs and for pork fridge balls (that sounds a little rude, sorry), but this can be easily missed out completely to keep the dish vegetarian, or served with the meatballs on the side so that you or your guests can pick and choose what they want to eat.  When I was a student and my house mate and I hosted numerous pasta dinners, serving many different pasta 'add ons', two different sauces and two different protein sources so that every one got to choose their own meal. Easy.  

So here we are, put the sauces pasta in the bowls or on the plates, add the meatballs and then season, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve with bread, salad or more pasta.  Could it be any easier?