Polpette Recipes

Steps:

• Put the bread in a small mixing bowl, cover with milk, and leave to soak.
• Chop the parsley and garlic together. Put meat into a large mixing bowl. Squeeze the milk out of the bread and add to meat. Add parsley and garlic. Use your hands to mix the ingredients. Break eggs into the mixture to bind it. Keep mixing. Add the pecorino. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shape meatballs by hand, make a hole in the top and insert a small piece of mozzarella. Cover it up and pat meatball into shape. Roll them in bread crumbs. Pour olive oil into a frying pan and when it's really hot, fry the meatballs for 5 minutes, or until they have formed a crust. Then turn over. When golden brown and crusty on both sides remove the meatballs from the pan and drain on paper towels.
• Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce, cover and cook very slowly on low heat for 45 minutes, until the sauce is reduced by half.
• Pour enough oil into a saucepan to cover the surface. Add garlic and 3 tins of tomatoes, mashing them slightly. Boil the sauce for 5 minutes and simmer for another 3 minutes.
• Cooking Time: 8 minutes

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.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Heat the milk in a small pan until warm but not scalded. Turn off the heat. Place the bread in the milk and let sit to absorb the milk, turning once, about 1 minute per side. Remove the bread to a board, finely chop it, and place the bread in a large bowl.
• Add the pork, veal, mortadella, onion, parsley, cheese, nuts, garlic, eggs, wine, salt, and pepper to the bread. Using your hand, mix to combine completely. Form into an oval-shaped loaf and place in a large baking dish. Cook for 55 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine olive oil, basil leaves and garlic over very low heat until mixture is very fragrant and garlic turns golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Strain mixture, discarding basil and garlic; set oil aside., In a Dutch oven, combine crushed tomatoes, water, tomato paste, salt, chopped basil, pepper and reserved olive oil. Bring to a boil; remove ½ cup and set aside. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, while preparing polpette., Meanwhile, to make polpette, in a large bowl, combine all polpette ingredients and reserved 1/2 cup tomato mixture. Gently mix until combined (mixture will be loose). With wet hands, roll 1/4 cup mixture into balls. Place on a baking sheet or plate. Add raw meatballs to simmering sauce, gently shaking pan to allow for more space. Bring to a simmer; cook, covered, at least 45 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Steps:

• Boil the potatoes in their skins in lightly salted water until soft; drain, then peel while still warm; place in a bowl and mash.
• Crumble the feta cheese into the potatoes and add the spring onion, garlic, dill, ground almonds, egg and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remember that feta is salty, so taste the mixture before adding the salt. Stir well so that al the ingredients are well combined.
• Cover the mixture and chill until it is firm; then divide the mixture into walnut-size balls, then flatten them slightly.
• Lightly coat the polpettes with flour; heat the oil in a pan, preferably non-stick and sauté the polpettes until they are golden brown on both sides.
• Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Cover the currants with boiling water and set aside to soak. Put the aubergines in a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Boil for 10 mins, then drain and leave to cool. Take handfuls of the aubergine, squeeze out the excess water and put the pulp in a bowl. Drain the currants, and add with the cheese, nuts, 200g of the breadcrumbs and half the egg. Mix together and season really well (aubergines need good seasoning). The mixture should neither be too soft nor too firm. You should be able to form balls about the size of walnuts without it falling apart. Add more egg or breadcrumbs to get the right consistency.
• Roll each ball in flour, then put them on baking sheets, cover with cling film and chill until you want to cook them. When you're ready to serve, dip each ball in egg, then the breadcrumbs, and put them back on the baking sheets (you may find you need more breadcrumbs or egg, depending on how much you used when making the balls).
• Half-fill a large frying pan with oil, or deep enough so the fritters will be submerged, and put on the heat. When it's hot but not smoking, fry the fritters, about six at a time, until dark golden all over - about 7 mins. Transfer onto platters covered with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil, then remove them from the paper and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Combine meat with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; mix well. Trim zucchini at both ends and cut into three parts each; then cut each part lengthwise into four sections. Take one of these sections with a bit of ground meat and press the two together forming a small oval ball. Roll it in flour and set aside on a piece of wax paper. Continue to make balls until you have used up zucchini sections and meat.
• Heat 1 cup of oil in a large frying pan. Dip floured zucchini balls in the beaten egg and fry in the hot oil until golden on all sides. Remove to paper towel to drain. When all balls are fried, transfer to a large skillet where they can fit, preferably, in a single layer. Add garlic and parsley.
• Dilute tomato paste with 2 cups cold water and add to skillet. Simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper to taste, and cook another couple of minutes to bring the flavors together.