Ciao Bella Polpette Meatballs Recipes

POLPETTINE - ITALIAN HOUSEWIFE'S MEATBALLS

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.

POLPETTE - ITALIAN MEATBALLS IN RICH TOMATO SAUCE

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.

POLPETTE DI MAMMA

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.

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN MEATBALLS/POLPETTE

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.

CIAO BELLA POLPETTE (MEATBALLS)

Steps:

• Prepare a double recipe of Ciao Bella Salsa Pomodoro in a large stock pot. Allow to come to a simmer for 30 minutes.
• While sauce is simmering, in a small bowl tear white bread into small pieces and soak with milk until well saturated. Mash with a fork until bread is broken down.
• In a large bowl combine ground beef, bread with milk, parmesan cheese, eggs, grated onion, parsley, garlic and salt and pepper.
• Scoop one ladle full of sauce right into the meat mixture and mix well. This is what will make the meatballs tender.
• Shape into medium size meatballs using about 2-3 tablespoons of meat mixture. Drop into simmering sauce. Simmer far another 30-40 minutes until meatballs have cooked through and sauce is thickened.
• Serve over you favorite pasta or have wonderful meatball subs. We always seem to eat all the meatballs and have left over sauce. So I freeze any left over sauce.