Juicy pork meatballs in a vibrant tomato sauce!
by Mick NunnKnown as Polpette di Manzo in Italy - these delicious meatballs are best served on creamy polenta with Parmesan, tossed through with spaghetti or even in a sub!
Category
Main Course
Servings
4
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
This recipe is simple and delicious. It truly is a crowd pleaser in our home!
Author:Mick Nunn
Ingredients
500g Western Plains Pork Mince
10g rosemary - finely chopped
10g sage - finely chopped
20g flat leaf parsley - finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
1 small brown onion - finely diced
1/2 loaf stale bread - crusts removed and torn
200 ml milk
1 egg
Flour - for dusting
500 ml tomato passata
5 g basil leaves
30 ml Extra Virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
For the Meatballs
For the sugo
Directions
For the Meatballs
Sweat your onions, rosemary, sage and half of the garlic in some olive oil in a small pan until soft and opaque. Set aside and allow to cool.
Break your bread into small pieces and place in a bowl with the milk.
While the bread absorbs the milk, in another bowl mix the pork mince, onion mix and parsley together.
With your hands rub the bread so it breaks up and absorbs the milk. Then, squeeze a bit of the excess milk out and add the soaked bread to your pork mince. Add egg. Mix until all ingredients are well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Put a small amount of flour in a bowl and begin to shape your meatballs to golf ball size, dust them in flour so they are lightly covered.
Heat a non-stick frying pan with a liberal amount of olive oil, it should cover the bottom of the pan. Fry your meatballs over a medium-high heat, turning them regularly until they are golden all over, then remove them and place them on paper towel to drain off any extra oil. It doesn’t matter if they are a little raw in the middle as they will finish cooking in the sauce.
For the sugo
Put the pan over a medium-high heat and fry your remaining garlic in a little olive oil until the garlic begins to go golden.
Add the passata and bring to a gentle simmer.
Add the meatballs and allow them to cook in the sauce for 10 minutes or until they are cooked through.
To finish tear the basil into the meatball sauce at the last minute.
Serve on some creamy polenta with Parmesan grated over the top or tossed with some spaghetti. You can eat the leftovers (if there is any) in a baguette with plenty of cheese and call it a meatball sub!