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Polpette – Italian meatballs
The Italian meatballs are quick and easy to prepare and perfect for any occasion. A mixture of minced beef and sausage meat gives them a unique taste. They are round, tasty and juicy. They are fried and then cooked in a tomato sauce so that they do not fall apart and retain their shape.
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Pan
- 2 large pots
Schritt für Schritt durch´s Rezept
- Step 1Dice the bread and soak in the milk.
- Step 2Remove the skin from the salsiccia and place the sausage meat in a bowl.
- Step 3Now add the minced beef, the squeezed out bread, the egg, the tomato purée and all the spices to the bowl. Mix the mixture well and knead.
- Step 4Place the bowl in the fridge for 3 hours (the longer the better) to infuse.
- Step 5Shape the mixture into polpette, i.e. balls the size of a table tennis ball, and dredge in flour.
- Step 6Heat the olive oil in a hot pan and fry the polpette until crispy on all sides.
- Step 7While the polpette mixture is resting, dice the onion and garlic and then sauté slowly in plenty of olive oil in a large pan.
- Step 8When the garlic and onions are translucent, add the passata to the mixture. Then season with salt and pepper.
- Step 9Simmer the sauce over a low heat until it has reduced by half. Stir occasionally.
- Step 10Now add the polpette, thyme and basil and simmer over a low heat with the lid on for 10 minutes
- Step 11When the sauce is almost ready, add salt to the water and bring to the boil. Now cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.
Polpette are as popular in Italy as meatballs are here. There is no one true recipe for classic polpette. Every family makes them a little differently: round or flat, large or small.
Of course, you can simply eat the little balls fried or turn them into polpette al sugo with tomato sauce. This dish is particularly popular with children. The balls are often served with fresh bread for the final “scarpetta”. Scarpetta means to soak up the sauce with the bread.
Spaghetti meatballs – Polpette al sugo in America
Spaghetti with polpette al sugo is a recipe for the heart and real soul food. But they are not traditionally Italian. In some parts of Italy, you can occasionally find the little meatballs on pizza or in lasagne. However, the pasta version is more a dish of Italian-American cuisine. Italian immigrants cooked it in New York at the end of the 19th century. Served as spaghetti meatballs, the round meatballs began a stellar career on the plates of the USA and later all over the world.
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