Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs with Root Vegetable Mash

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Bring two saucepans of water to the boil.

Peel and chop the turnip.

Add turnip to one saucepan and the stock to the other. Heat the stock and stir to dissolve. When dissolved set the stock aside.

Peel and finely chop the garlic and brown onion

Chop the fresh parsley.

In a bowl, mix together the beef mince, half of the brown onion, half of the garlic, half of the Worcestershire sauce and half of the fresh parsley. Season well with salt and pepper.

Form the mince mixture into large meatball shapes.

Heat half of the oil in a saucepan and the remaining oil in a frying pan.

Add the remaining garlic and onion to the saucepan and sauté until softened and fragrant.

Add the meatballs to the frying pan and fry until the meatballs are browned on the outside.

Add the stewed tomato and beef stock to the onion mixture in the saucepan and bring to a gentle boil.

Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and add the dried oregano, smoked paprika, remaining Worcestershire sauce and harissa paste (omit if you do not like spice).

Season the sauce to taste.

Stir through the tomato paste to thicken the sauce slightly.

Add the meatballs from the frying pan to the sauce and spoon some sauce over them.

Transfer the meatballs to the oven to bake in the sauce. Cook until the meatballs are completely cooked through.

Drain the turnip and return the saucepan in which it was cooked.

Mash the turnip and season with salt and pepper.

Distribute the turnip among serving bowls.

Carefully remove the meatballs from the oven and distribute among serving bowls, along side the turnip mash.

Garnish with remaining fresh parsley.