Meatballs in Tomato Sauce – a great Italian recipe

Here is a recipe for a very easy to make but tasty meal – Polpettine in Salsa di Pomodoro – Meatballs in Tomato Sauce. Don’t you think the title in Italian sounds exotic?

Here is the recipe…

Ingredients (for the meatballs)

• 150 grams fresh ricotta cheese
• 150 grams Emmenthal (Swiss) cheese  – finely chopped or grated
• 400 grams very lean minced beef (or a mixture of ground pork and ground veal)
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• sunflower oil for frying

Ingredients for tomato sauce

• 1 can whole or chopped tomatoes (i use whole then cut into chunks)
• virgin olive oil
• 1 onion – finely chopped
• Fresh basil leaves
• salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the tomato sauce by heating the olive oil then saute the onion for about 4 minutes. When the onion becomes translucent, add the tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat then add basil leaves and salt and pepper. Keep warm until the meatballs are ready.

Mix the cheeses, meat and egg together. Season with salt and pepper and shape into small balls.

Heat sunflower oil in a pan and fry the meatballs in batches cooking for about 3 minutes until brown. Turn over a few times to ensure they are cooked.

Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Cook spaghetti then serve with meatballs, then add tomato sauce.  I added green beans which had been cooked in the microwave, then garnished with grated parmesan cheese.

Buon Appetito!