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Polpete

Name: Polpete
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 21 min
Total time: 1 h 51 min
Yield: 25 pieces
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 3 slices bread; 1 glass milk; 300 g minced beef; ½ onion; parsley; 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano); 2 eggs; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 1 shallot; 2 bayleaves; 1 sprig thyme; 1 garlic clove; 300 g peeled and chopped tomatoes; salt; pepper

The polpete are the delicious meatballs of the Italian cuisine, softer than the classic meatballs because they contain breadcrumbs moistened with milk.

37 K 5/5 (1 reviews)

1 hour 55 min. difficulté

Easy

7.20 €

25 pieces

15 Ingredients

Last modified on: April 8^th 2023

For 25 pieces, you will need:

1 3 slices bread
2 1 glass milk
3 300 g minced beef
4 ½ onion
5 parsley
6 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
7 2 eggs
8 4 tablespoons olive oil
9 1 shallot
10 2 bayleaves
11 1 sprig thyme
12 1 garlic clove
13 300 g peeled and chopped tomatoes
14 salt
15 pepper
Total weight: 1,160 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation: 30 min.

Resting: 1 hour

Cooking: 25 min.

All in all: 1 hour 55 min.

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - ⌛ 5 min.

Making the meat balls

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.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 5 min.

In the meantime, in a salad bowl, pour 300 g minced beef, ½ onion finely chopped and parsley also chopped.

Salt and pepper.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 5 min.

Add the milk-soaked bread, squeezed between your hands, grated 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) and 2 eggs.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 3 min.

Mix thoroughly.

You can do it with a mixer, or simply by hand...

Stage 5

...until you get...

Stage 6 - ⌛ 1 hour

...a homogeneous mixture.

Let rest 1 hour in the refrigerator if possible.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 10 min.

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.

Stage 8 - ⌛ 5 min.

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

Stage 9 - ⌛ 1 min.

In the same pan, add a little olive oil, then chopped 1 shallot, 2 bayleaves, 1 sprig thyme, 1 garlic clove, salt and pepper.

Cook for 1 minute, without browning.

Stage 10 - ⌛ 10 min.

Pour in 300 g peeled and chopped tomatoes, add more salt and pepper, and let thicken gently for about 10 minutes.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 5 min.

Add the previously set aside meatballs, sprinkle with tomatoes and let them warm up slowly.

Stage 12 - ⌛ 2 min.

Just before serving, remove and discard thyme, garlic clove and bay leaves.

Check seasoning.

Stage 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.

Keeping: 1 or 2 days in the refrigerator, protected by a stretch film.

Source: Home made.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	310 RDI=120 %	1,750 RDI=170 %	180 RDI=30 %	2,170 RDI=110 %	9,080 RDI: 110 %
Per 100 g	30 RDI=10 %	150 RDI=10 %	20 RDI=2 %	190 RDI=9 %	780 RDI: 9 %
Per piece	10 RDI=5 %	70 RDI=7 %	7 RDI=1 %	90 RDI=4 %	360 RDI: 4 %