Remove the crust from 3 slices bread (use it in another recipe), put the crumb only in a bowl and sprinkle it with 1 glass Milk. Let it soak in.
2: In the meantime, in a salad bowl, pour 300 g minced beef, ½ onion finely chopped and parsley also chopped. Salt and pepper.
3: Add the milk-soaked bread, squeezed between your hands, grated 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) and 2 eggs.
4: Mix thoroughly. You can do it with a mixer, or simply by hand...
5: ...until you get...
6: ...a homogeneous mixture. Let rest 1 hour in the refrigerator if possible.
7: Shape them into balls and place them on a baking sheet, possibly protected by a sheet of baking paper. If you don't use them right away, you can freeze them at this stage: put the baking sheet in the freezer, and when the balls are frozen, transfer them to a closed plastic freezer bag.
8:
Cooking
In a large frying pan over medium heat, pour in 4 tablespoons olive oil and when it is hot add the dumplings, just brown them on each "face". Put on hold in a plate
10: Pour in 300 g peeled and chopped tomatoes, add more salt and pepper, and let thicken gently for about 10 minutes.
11: Add the previously set aside meatballs, sprinkle with tomatoes and let them warm up slowly.
12: Just before serving, remove and discard thyme, garlic clove and bay leaves. Check seasoning.
13: Serve the polpete with the side dish of your choice, in this case white rice, and a generous helping of tomato puree.
Remarks
In principle, popete is beef, but you can also put several meats together: beef + pork for example, or beef + veal. Pecorino instead, or with it, Parmesan is also a very good option.