Recipe: spicy pasta and meatballs

Ingredients to serve one: 

two Aldi skinny sausages (one syn)
half an apple, grated
one tsp grain mustard (1/2 syn)
a very little plain flour for dusting hands

50g dried weight wholemeal pasta (I used penne)

one tsp oil (two syns)
half a medium onion, sliced thinly
about four inches of leek, thinly sliced
one bacon medallion, thinly sliced
half a red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
one large mushroom, thinly sliced
garlic (I used granules)
chilli to taste, chopped small
passata (I had some left over) made up to appropriate amount with water and tomato puree

30g finely grated cheese - I used gruyere but any would do to own taste.  You need one healthy extra As-worth.

Method:
Take the skins off the sausages and place the sausage meat in a bowl.  Add the grated apple and the grain mustard and mix to combine - I found using my hands worked best.  Shape into even sized meatballs using floured hands, place on a small baking sheet lined with parchment, cover and pop in the fridge until needed.
It made six meatballs altogether.

Cook the penne in salted water and set aside when done.

Before you start making the sauce, heat the oven to around 200C, spray the meatballs and bake in the oven, turning them carefully from time to time - they become less fragile as they cook through.  When done (they take about half an hour), turn down the heat and keep them warm.

In a pan or wok, heat the oil (or use spray oil) and gently fry the onion, leek, chilli and bacon until softened.  Add the pepper and mushroom with a splash of water, reduce the heat, cover and allow to gently cook until softened.

Turn up the heat a bit, add the garlic granules and the passata and bring to a gentle simmer.  If it looks too dry, add a splash of water and some tomato puree. 

Add the cooked pasta and mix well.  Then add the cooked meatballs and mix in gently as themixture comes back up to piping hot.

Serve in a bowl with the grated cheese sprinkled over the top.  Some fresh parsley sprinkled over would be nice, if you have some.

SW info:
three and a half syns (one and a half if you use fry light spray oil) and one healthy extra A