Polpette al Sugo

My love story with meatballs has been going strong for many years. No matter what flavours you like or dislike there will always be a perfect meatball recipe that feels like it was made just for you.

 Another thing I love about meatballs is that this dish goes beyond borders and nationalities. Different cuisines of the world will have different meatball recipes with all sorts of spices and sauces.

For the classic polpette al sugo, I never really follow a recipe, but I know the ingredients I like and I loosely improvise. I like to use onion in the meat mix and garlic in the sauce along with some chili. Parmesan cheese is also a must and I tend to use breadcrumbs rather than soaked bread. My latest addition to the mix is pine nuts and a few very finely chopped sultanas. Phil’s mum always adds these two ingredients and they really make a difference.

After all these years of making and eating polpette this is the first time I am actually writing the recipe down. Enjoy, possibly along with mashed potatoes!  

Tonde e buone

Ingredients

For the meatballs

500g mince
1 egg
1 onion
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
2tsp salt
Pepper
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of pine nuts
1 handful of sultanas
50 gr grated parmesan

For the sauce

Olive oil
1 tin of passata
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp of chili flakes

This recipe serves 4 people and is ready in approximately 50 minutes

Step by step

• Soak the sultanas in warm water and let them rest until they plump up (15min). Once ready, dry them and chop them very finely

• Finely chop the onion and the parsley

• In a bowl add all the ingredients for the meatballs and mix with your hands until combined. Form the meatballs with your hands and set aside

• Add olive oil in a non-stick pan and heat it up. When hot, add in the meatballs and let them colour. Turn them around to achieve an even colouring

• When they are nice and golden add in the passata, chili flakes and garlic and season to taste

• When the passata starts boiling, turn the heat down and cover with a lid. Let them simmer until cooked. It should roughly take 20min from the moment you put the lid on

Tips & Cheats

You can soak your sultanas in Rum or Whiskey for an extra kick.

If you don’t like parsley you can use oregano. It will taste great.

If you want to give them and even more uniformed golden colour you can coat them with flour before you cook them.

The few first minutes the meatballs spend in the pan without the passata are the most critical ones. The meatballs could stick to the pan or they could burn on one side and have an uneven colour. Just make sure you check them out during this time and don’t leave the kitchen. As soon as you’ll add the passata everything will be much easier.