POLPETTE - ITALIAN MEATBALLS IN RICH TOMATO SAUCE
Polpette Al Sugo or classic Italian Meatballs are soft, juicy bite-size nuggets cooked to perfection in rich tomato sauce.
Provided by Italian Recipe Book
Categories Main Course
Time 45m
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- In a large bowl add ground beef and crumble it with a wooden spoon or simply using your fingers.
- Add finely chopped shallot. I like to use a microplane grater as it extracts all the juices to go with the meat and minces the shallot really well.
- Add ground nutmeg, breadcrumbs, egg(s) and Parmesan cheese.
- Mix everything well with your hands.
- Slowly pour in the milk. Mix again until smooth and even texture.
- Add salt and pepper.
- If the mixture feels too dry add some more milk, if way too soft, almost liquid-y - add more breadcrumbs.
- An ideal meatball mix should be moist, easy to roll in your hands and hold the shape.
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Pinch of about an ounce of meat and roll it between the palms of your hands giving it a smooth round shape with no cracks.
- With an ounce of meat you'll have medium size meatballs, think walnut size.
- Of course you can make your meatballs smaller or bigger, depending your preference.
- Place rolled meatballs on a baking sheet (see notes!).Line with parchment paper to avoid extra cleaning.Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
- In a large skillet pan add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- Add baked meatballs, tomato pure (clean the can/bottle with about a quarter cup water and add to the sauce).
- Add garlic cloves crushed with a flat knife, handful of fresh basil leaves and generous drizzle of dried oregano.
- Bring to simmer and cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes.
ITALIAN MEATBALLS WITH CAPERS (POLPETTINE AI CAPPERI)
Provided by Frank J. Prial
Categories dinner, appetizer
Time 45m
Yield Fourteen meatballs
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Put the meat in a mixing bowl.
- Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the onions. Cook, stirring, until the onions are wilted. Set aside and let cool briefly.
- Soak the bread crumbs in the milk and add this to the meat. Add the egg, cooked onions, salt and pepper. Add the marjoram and parsley and blend well.
- Divide the mixture into 14 portions and flatten each. Make a slight depression in the center of each meatball. Add an equal portion of the capers in the center of each. Bring up the edges and shape into balls, enclosing the capers in the center.
- Dredge each ball in flour and shake off excess.
- Heat the oil in a heavy, nonstick skillet and add the meatballs without crowding. Cook, turning carefully, until the meatballs are browned on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the wine and cover closely. Let simmer 12 minutes. Serve with a little of the hot pan liquid spooned over.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 79, UnsaturatedFat 2 grams, Carbohydrate 4 grams, Fat 3 grams, Fiber 0 grams, Protein 8 grams, SaturatedFat 1 gram, Sodium 126 milligrams, Sugar 0 grams, TransFat 0 grams
ITALIAN MEATBALLS WITH CAPER TOMATO SAUCE
Steps:
- 1. In a blender or food processor, puree the tomatoes. In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the pureed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring, until the sauce starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add the capers and oregano and simmer until the sauce is reduced to 1 1/4 cups, 5 minutes. Season with salt; keep warm. 2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, cover the bread with the milk. Let stand until the bread has absorbed the milk, about 5 minutes. 3. In a large bowl, combine the ground pork and beef. Add the milk-soaked bread, egg, olives, cheese, parsley and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix well with your hands and shape the mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. 4. In a large skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the meatballs and cook over moderately high heat until starting to brown, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to moderate and cook until browned all over and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain the meatballs and transfer to a platter. Pour the hot tomato sauce on top and serve. *Make Ahead The uncooked meatballs and the tomato sauce can be refrigerated separately for up to 2 days. Bring the meatballs to room temperature before cooking them.
POLPETTINE - ITALIAN HOUSEWIFE'S MEATBALLS
Zia Tea, my Italian aunt, used to make meat balls when she had left over meat which did mot make another meal for the family. She stuffed it in her meat grinder, ground it and then added raw ground meat. She was not wealthy in terms of money, so she had plenty of fruit, veggies and herbs from her wildly growing garden, but could not afford to buy lots of meat and especially no costly cuts of meat. My mother, studying in Rome during the late 1950s and early 1960s, used to spend her holidays with zia Tea, whose husband worked as a fisher, and they were quite poor but shared everything they had with my mother. The meat they occasionally had was cheap horses' meat and the fish mostly salted codd which lay around in the kitchen cupboard. When I was a child, zia Tea and her husband run a pet store and had some more money, but not much. No more horse meat and salted codd, but some inexpensive beef or pork cuts, thinly sliced turkey or sometimes one of the rabbits from the pet store. Stocking up the left over meat which she ground for polpettine, she used whatever was on sale at the local butcher's, so it was never exactly the same polpettine. But they were the best I ever had in my life! You can use every kind of ground meat you like and adapt the amount of garlic to your taste. She didn't use a lot so that the lemony flavor and the sage and celery were not overwhelmed.
Provided by Mia in Germany
Categories Meat
Time 40m
Yield 6 , 6 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Chop garlic, celery leaves and potato.
- In a mixing bowl combine ground meat, bread crumbs, grated lemon peel, salt, chopped garlic, sage and celery leaves, potato, two tablespoons olive oil and the egg.
- Knead like bread dough and slowly add some milk to make a soft dough.
- The meat dough should be smooth and homogenous.
- Shape into 2 inch meatballs, flatten to about 1 1/2 inch thickness and fry in olive oil until golden brown.
- My aunt served them with a salad of cooked green beans and potatoes, seasoned with nothing but salt, pepper and savory and drizzled with olive oil.
AUTHENTIC ITALIAN MEATBALLS/POLPETTE
My mom's friend who is Italian gave me a copy of her family cookbook that they had bound and published. It was a wedding shower gift that I treasure. As a newlywed I used this recipe a lot! I've been married 16 years and I make these with spaghetti, for meatball sandwiches, and smaller versions for appetizers to take in a crockpot to parties. Some friends think it is strange to put uncooked meatballs in the sauce, but that's what the recipe says to do. It cooks for a long time, and the meatballs keep their shape. I do not make my own spaghetti sauce. I buy two large jars of Ragu. No one seems to notice, or care!!Always a hit!!! Makes a lot and freezes well.
Provided by janwithaplan
Categories Meat
Time 2h45m
Yield 10 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Mix all ingredients together
- Form about the size of golf balls
- Make or pour tomato sauce into a deep pot Drop meat balls in sauce.
- Simmer for at least 2 hours.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 305.8, Fat 18.8, SaturatedFat 7.2, Cholesterol 118.8, Sodium 207.2, Carbohydrate 8.4, Fiber 0.6, Sugar 0.9, Protein 24.1
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