Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Chop the onion.

In a non-stick frying pan, sweat the onion in some olive oil for about 4 – 5 minutes until softened but not browned.

Divide this cooked onion in two and put half in a medium-sized bowl (this will be for the meatballs) and the other half in a medium-sized pot for the sauce. Add the crushed garlic to the onions in the pot for the sauce and fry for a minute. Then add the red wine and allow this to cook off. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, sugar, butter, a pinch of chilli flakes (if using), salt and pepper and allow this to bubble for about 20 minutes until thickened.

While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs. Into the bowl with half a cooked onion, add the mince, breadcrumbs, finely chopped parsley, oregano, fennel seeds, salt & pepper and egg. Mix this until well combined. Make meatballs using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon measure. You want the meatballs to be quite small in size and you should get around 20 – 22 meatballs out of the mix.

Once made heat another splash of olive oil in the non-stick pan you fried the onions in and fry the meatballs until golden on all sides. You can do this by swirling the pan around. They do not need to be cooked right through. Decant these into an appropriately sized oven dish.

Shred the mozzarella and mix it with the Mascarpone to form a thick paste.

The sauce should have been bubbling for 20 minutes, then decant it over the meatballs. Dollop pieces of the cheese mixture around the top of the dish and cover it with foil (or a lid if the baking dish has a lid). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and put it back into the oven for a further 10 – 13 minutes. At around the 9-minute mark, turn the oven to grill (broil) and watch the cheese as it starts to bubble and go brown. Remove it from the oven and set aside for a few minutes.

While the meatballs are in the oven baking, make the garlic bread. Cut the baguette into 3 equal parts and then slice these thirds into half horizontally. You will now have 6 pieces of bread.

Put the butter, garlic and parsley into a small bowl and microwave for 2 minutes or heat on the stove for a similar time (cook for at least a minute after the butter starts to bubble.  Place the sliced bread cut side up on a baking sheet lined with paper and brush the garlic butter over the entire surface. Brush the underside lightly with butter if you have any leftovers.

Grate the Parmesan on the fine side of a grater and sprinkle this over the bread. Place this in the oven about a third of the way down and watch closely as it cooks. It will take about 5 – 10 minutes to turn golden brown. Watch this very closely.

Serve this with the baked meatballs that should still be bubbling and hot.