Polpete

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.

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

Salt and pepper.

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

Mix thoroughly.

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

...until you get...

...a homogeneous mixture.

Let rest 1 hour in the refrigerator if possible.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Check seasoning.

Serve the polpete with the side dish of your choice, in this case white rice, and a generous helping of tomato puree.