Polpette recipe presented as spaghetti and meatballs.
Polpette are the big nicely-spiced meatballs found in Italian-American pasta dishes (they are apparently not found in Italy itself, where the meatballs are much smaller) and in meatball subs. When researching this polpette recipe we came across the wonderful Nonna’s Way blog which includes a wealth of dishes and Italian-American-grandma preparation techniques. We’ve made some tweaks but the unusually large quantities of some ingredients are in most cases Nonna’s. Makes 8-12 meatballs; allow 2 per person when serving with pasta and gravy.
Ingredients:
1 ½ lb ground beef, pork, veal or a combination*
2 eggs, beaten
½ c or more finely chopped Italian (flat) parsley (leaves only, no stems)**
¼ c peeled garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 12 cloves)
¾ c grated parmesan cheese
¼ c bread crumbs
2 t Kosher salt
½ t ground black pepper
2 T whole milk
2 T olive oil
We recommend browning the polpette in the oven, not stovetop, to keep their shape.
Method: dump all ingredients in a big bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands; shape into meatballs and transfer to a cast iron skillet or oven-safe pan. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes until surface is brown and crispy. Drain, and serve hot or reheated with tomato sauce over pasta or in sub roll.
*Ground meat recipes typically include a combination that leads with veal, but we don’t find it adds much to the flavor in the product that’s typically sold today. We recommend using a beef/pork combination or simply all beef.
*Nonna uses 2 ounces of parsley which is maybe two whole bunches chopped, less the stems. We have reduced that but there’s nothing wrong with using more if you like parsley.
I will make this recipe sometime in the next two weeks. This looks like a great recipe. Lots of garlic for one and one half pounds of beef. I like garlic.
yes, lots of garlic. I thought it was an improvement on the excellent Nonna recipe.