Beef and veal meatballs

Of course if you want a fancy name for this recipe for beef and veal meatballs, here it is: Herb & Sundried Tomato Meat Polpettine.

Polpettine describes the size of these meatballs and these are the smaller ones. The cooking temperature and time works for this size. If you choose to make them larger you will need to ensure that they have cooked through.

When following this recipe, bare in mind that you could chose different ingredients. For example, you could swap the veal for pork. And another thing. . . these little darlins can go over pizza, into bread rolls.

Prepare your pasta when you and your family are good and ready to eat and if there are any leftover, they freeze perfectly.

Ingredients serves 4 – 6

230 ml (1 pint) buttermilk (which will help tenderise the meat)
25 grams (1 oz) pinenuts
225 grams (1/2 lb) freshly ground veal
225 grams (1/2 lb) freshly ground beef
50 grams (2 oz) finely ground, fresh, white breadcrumbs
50 grams (2 oz) sundried tomatoes
4 stems fresh basil leaves
1 large egg
6 stems fresh oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoons each salt and ground black pepper
60 mls (2 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil
900 ml (2 x16 oz can) Passata (tomato sauce)
500 grams (1 lb) pasta of your choice
Pecorino or Parmesan, grated for garnish

Preparation

Soak the meat in the buttermilk for up to 1 hour, then drain and discard the milk
In a dry pan, lightly fry the pine nuts until they have turned golden brown
In a food processor add all of the ingredients except the tomato sauce, pasta and pecorino garnish.
Pulse it to start with, then process for 2 minutes
Prepare a baking sheet with some grease-proof paper and pre-heat your oven to 365F/185C.
Make up 1 inch polpettine and arrange them on the baking sheet.
Place them in the oven for 25 minutes.
Reduce the oven to 320F/160C then transfer your polpettine into an oven-proof dish. Pour over the tomato sauce.
Cover tightly with foil and bake in the centre of the oven for a further 2 hours.