Using your hands, thoroughly mix together all of the ingredients for the meatballs, except the olive oil.

Take a small piece of the mixture, form into a ball and fry in 1tsp of the olive oil until brown and thoroughly cooked through. Allow to cool a little, then taste. If the mixture needs it, add more seasoning, sage, lemon or Parmesan.

When the mixture is to your liking, form it into walnut-sized balls by rolling between your palms.

Thoroughly brown the meatballs in the remaining olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, a few at a time, and set aside on a plate in the fridge.

In a large pan, heat the oil and butter over a moderate heat, then add the pancetta or streaky bacon. Saute, stirring, until it starts to brown (5-8 min).

Stir in the onion, carrot, fennel, celery and garlic, season with salt & pepper and continue cooking until the vegetable are starting to soften and taking on a little colour (20-25 min).

Stir in the wine, turn the heat up and boil fiercely until the wine has almost evaporated (5-8 min).

Stir in the bay leaves, oregano & chilli flakes if using.

Stir the tomatoes, beef stock, balsamic vinegar and a little more salt & pepper.

Put the lid on the pan, bring the contents to a boil then turn the heat to low-moderate to get a gentle simmer. Simmer until reduced by about a third (15-20 min). Check the seasoning & add sugar if you think it needs it.

Add the reserved, browned meatballs to the pan, stir, put the lid back on and bring to a simmer again. Simmer until the sauce is thick and the meatball cooked through (20-25 min).

Check the seasoning again, stir in the torn basil leaves.

Serve with cooked pasta or continue recipe for Meatball Pasta Al Forno.

Pre-heat oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4

Butter an ovenproof dish approximately 26 x 18 x 7 cm. Set aside.

In a saucepan, ideally non-stick, melt the butter over low-medium heat then add the flour, using a small whisk to incorporate it into the melted butter. Cook for 2 min, whisking all the time.

Take the pan off the heat, pour 100 ml of the milk and whisky well to mix in, making sure there's no lumps.

Put the pan back on the heat and, whisking continually, a little at a time gradually add all of the remaining milk, making sure there's no lumps before each addition.

When all the milk has been added and the sauce is smooth, season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaf.

Turn up the heat and, stirring with a rubber or plastic spatula as the sauce thickens, bring it up to a boil then immediately turn the heat to low.

Let the sauce gently bubble, stirring often and making sure it isn't sticking to the bottom or sides of the saucepan until it no longer tastes of raw flour (5-8 min).

Take the saucepan off the heat, take out and discard the bay leaf.

Stir in half the Cheddar & Parmesan cheeses until melted. Set pan aside.

Mix the dried oregano with the remaining cheese, add a little black pepper and set aside.

Boil the pasta in salted water in a large saucepan until cooked but still a little firm. Drain and return the pasta to the saucepan.

Stir approximately one-third of the meatball & sauce mixture into the pasta, along with roughly 150ml of the cheese sauce. Mix together well.

Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and level off the top.

Pour or spoon over the rest of the cheese sauce (heating it a little first will help if it's gone too firm as it cools), so that it covers the pasta and meatballs.

Sprinkle the reserved cheeses and oregano over the top.

Bake in the pre-heated oven until bubbling and thoroughly hot all the way through and the top is golden (30-40 min). Turn the oven down a little if the top is browning too much before the middle of the bake is hot.