In a bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs, mix well and stash in the fridge till needed.

Place a large colander in a bowl, and pour the tomatoes into the colander, juice and all.

Using your fingers, pry the tomatoes open one by one and remove the seeds, dumping the seeds into the colander and placing the seeded tomatoes in a separate bowl.

Once all the tomatoes are seeded, leave the seeds and the juices in the colander to drain into the bowl below.

Put a pot over medium-low heat, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil then the onion, garlic, carrot, celery chili, thyme, oregano and the star anise pod

Fry mixture a few minutes over medium-low heat till soft and fragrant.

Add the tomato paste and continue to cook for another minute or so.

Add all the drained tomato juices from the bowl to the pot along with the balsamic vinegar and the sugar. Discard the tomato seeds from the colander.

Boost heat till medium high and reduce to liquid to about a fourth. Keep an eye on things in the unlikely event that things reduce too far and start to caramelize and burn.

Add the wine and boil for a couple of minutes, then back the heat down to medium.

Remove the star anise pod.

Stir in the tomatoes and heat for a good minute or so till warmed through, then back the heat all the way down to medium-low and simmer for about an hour until the tomatoes basically fall apart.

When you’ve got about a half hour left on the sauce, remove the meatball mixture from the fridge.

Use an ice cream scoop or similar to portion the meatballs, then carefully roll them in your hands to create uniform, smooth meatballs. Uniformity matters more than size here.

Grab a large sauté pan or similar and place it over medium-high heat, add a generous splash of olive oil and allow the pan to heat through.

When pan is hot fry the meatballs on all sides/surfaces until uniformly brown. Work in batches if you must, taking care not to crowd the pan.

When the meatballs are nicely browned, remove them from the pan, set them aside and then deglaze the pan with another splash of wine or a little stock if you have it around. If not, use water.

Add the meatballs back to the deglazing liquid and tasty bits left in the pan, kill the heat while you wait for the sauce to finish.

When you sauce has finished simmering, hit it with a stick blender and blend till smooth and creamy.

Pour the blended tomato sauce into the sauté pan with the meatballs, turn on the heat to medium-low cover the pan with a lid and allow them meatballs to simmer in the sauce for another half hour or so over gentle heat.

If the balls are not completely submerged in the sauce turn them a couple of times during this last step of the cooking process

To a large pot add at least one liter of water per 100 grams of pasta you intend to cook, then add ten grams of salt per liter of water.

Bring the pot to a boil over high heat - be advised that for larger portions, this may take longer than you expect.

When the water is at a rolling boil, dump in your spaghetti and stir gently to break the strands apart.

Lower the heat slightly and cook for a minute or so less than the package indicates, stirring frequently but gently.

When you’re getting near the indicated cooking time on the package, carefully fish out a strand of spaghetti and bite it. You want it to be firm with some resistance but not raw and doughy.

If you’re not quite happy with the texture, boil for another minute then test again. If you’re still not happy, repeat the process as needed.

When your pasta is to your liking, quickly drain the pasta thoroughly and get ready to serve.

Ladle a couple of spoonfuls of sauce into the pasta and mix well, also add a good handful of Parmesan cheese and mix again.

Put the pasta on a serving platter or on individual plates. Top with meatballs and more sauce, then add a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.

Serve immediately with a side salad and plenty of Italian wine.