With the weather taking a turn to 'freezing', you're probably craving curry, stew or pasta and meatballs (yum)... But the aftereffects of this kind of indulgence can be dangerous. We've come up with an alternative to the classic spaghetti meatballs – use fresh tuna instead of beef mince for a lighter, cheekier version of spaghetti and meatballs (the Italians will still approve).

Tuna Meatballs With Pasta

Ingredients

For the sauce
- Olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes
- 1 tsp origanum
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the meatballs
- 400g fresh tuna, minced, or the same amount of shredded, tinned tuna, drained
- 50g pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry pan
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried origanum
- Handful parsley, chopped
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- Zest and juice of 1 lime (or lemon)
- Olive oil
- Freshly chopped Italian parsley

To make the sauce:
Fry the onion in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Add the tomatoes, origanum and season to taste. Simmer on the stove for about 15 minutes until it has thickened. Purée with a handheld blender or in a food processor.

For the meatballs:
Place the tuna, pine nuts, cinnamon, seasoning, oregano, parsley and breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, lime zest and juice, and using your hands mix everything together until well-combined. Roll the mixture into small balls. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the tuna balls in batches until golden on all sides. Remove from the pan and place on paper towel.
Cook pasta according to packet instructions. Serve topped with the tomato sauce and meatballs. Garnish with freshly chopped Italian parsley.

Serves 6.Per 267g serving of sauce: 1 340kJ, 15g fat (2.5g saturated), 580mg sodium, 25g carbs, 4g fibre, 2g sugars, 24g protein.

For more classics revamped get the July/August issue of Women's Health.