Recipe: Italian meatballs in tomato sauce

Published on Friday 10 July 2009 12:37

KNOWN in Italy as polpette al sugo, literally meatballs in sauce, this is one of the all-time classics – and for good reason. All over Europe you'll find people, from children up to age 100-plus, relishing this tasty meal. The Italians seem to have a knack of pairing ingredients into fairly rustic and robust meals that stand the test of time like no others.

Making your own meatballs is super-quick and they will be much tastier than any you can buy in a packet. And the same goes for the tomato sauce. However, although we make a lot of homemade pasta here at the Cook School, I would recommend using dried pasta for a strong sauce like this. Save the extra work involved for more delicate pasta dishes such as ravioli. Where spaghetti or linguine are involved, buying dried is just fine.

As for the rest of the ingredients, with beef and pork, always go to a good butcher and get them to mince up a nice piece of meat for you. You can't beat good-quality meat for taste and succulence. For the tinned tomatoes, try to get a good Italian brand. So many supermarket versions taste overly acidic. Buon appetito.

Italian meatballs in tomato sauce

Serves four

For the tomato sauce

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

small pinch dried chilli flakes

800g good-quality Italian tinned tomatoes

Maldon salt

freshly ground black pepper

stem basil

For the meatballs

200g ground beef

100g ground pork (shoulder)

100g ground gammon (leg)

1 tbsp dry breadcrumbs

2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated

1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

onion, finely diced

1 egg yolk

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Maldon salt

freshly ground black pepper

To serve

400g dried linguine or spaghetti

parmesan cheese, grated or shaved

basil, chopped

To make the tomato sauce, warm the olive oil in a thick-based pan, add the chopped onion and slowly sweat without colouring. After a few minutes, add the garlic, chilli and seasoning and cook for another five minutes. Seasoning at this stage is important as it allows the salt to cook out properly. Next, add the tinned tomatoes and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently.

While the tomato sauce is reducing down, assemble the meatballs. Place all the ground meat, breadcrumbs, parmesan and parsley into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Add the onion, olive oil, egg yolk and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper and mix again.

Using clean hands divide the meat mixture into small pieces and roll into balls. These can be any size you wish, but the size of a table-tennis ball is a good guide.

When all the meatballs are ready, heat a medium-sized frying pan and add the olive oil. Fry the meatballs, turning occasionally, until golden brown. You may need to add more oil as the meatballs absorb it during cooking.

When the meatballs are all coloured, add them to the tomato sauce and cook for roughly 15 to 20 minutes, ensuring that the meatballs are properly cooked. Finally, check for seasoning and serve with olive oil, linguine or spaghetti and freshly shaved parmesan, a couple of grinds of pepper and some chopped basil.

Critical points

Make sure the meat mixture is thoroughly combined before you start rolling. When you do roll, make sure each meatball is the same size – smallish ones are easier to work with. Wet your hands so that the meat doesn't stick as you roll.

When you're frying the meatballs, you may need to do them in batches. Don't overfill the pan or the temperature will drop too much and it will be hard to turn the meatballs. You want the heat fairly high to caramelise the outside, but you don't need to cook them through at this stage – this can be done later in the sauce.

The sauce and meatballs can be made in advance and reheated for serving. Alternatively, make up your meatballs in advance, leaving them uncooked, then finish them off prior to serving. The sauce can be made up to three days in advance – or more if you freeze it.