How lucky we all are to have a family butcher in Eynsham who is prepared to supply any cut of meat we need. Richard Golsby and his nephews Paul and Martin are amazing — they will prepare anything you ask for, providing they have it in stock. Deciding I would like to cook some pork meat balls I asked if they could mince two pork steaks for me — the job was done in a matter of minutes, which enabled me to cook up a dozen tasty little meat balls for the children who were coming for tea.

YOU WILL NEED Two pork steaks minced One cooking apple One medium sized onion Two cloves of garlic — one for the meat balls and one for the sauce Two large vine tomatoes Handful chopped parsley Few sprigs fresh marjoram Olive oil to fry Flour to dust meat balls One egg yolk to bind the meat Salt and freshly-ground black peppercorns to season.

METHOD Chop the garlic and onions fine.

Halve the apple and remove pips — peel half and chop fine — leave the skin on the remaining half and cut into thin slices.

Place minced pork in a mixing bowl, add the chopped garlic, onions, parsley and chopped apple and mix together.

Add seasoning and the egg yolk then mix again until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Break up into 12 pieces, roll into balls, dust with flour then fry gently in a little oil, turning carefully until they are brown.

Chop the tomatoes into a really fine dice (you can peel them first if you wish).

Place chopped tomatoes into a small saucepan with a few drops of olive oil, a little chopped garlic and a few sprigs of fresh marjoram chopped fine. Cook gently until soft. Season and mash into a purée with a potato masher, adding a little chopped parsley to give it extra colour.

While the tomatoes and meatballs are cooking, fry the apple slices gently so they become soft for use as a garnish.

Assemble the dish by placing a spoonful of the mashed tomato into centre of the plate and then arrange the meal balls on top, along with the cooked apple slices.