1,534 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...

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.

36 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.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

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 %

Possible allergens in this recipe: Gluten, milk, egg

How much will it cost?

For 25 pieces : 7.20 €
Per piece : 0.30 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

Other recipes you may also like

Saltimbocca

Saltimbocca literally means "jumps into the mouth" in Italian. These delicious little meat rolls, made with veal, ham and sage, will do just that!

July 20^th 201591 K4.9 40 min.

Exotic fruit tart

An exotic fruit tart (bananas, kiwi and pineapple), with crisp pastry and almond cream which are cooked beforehand. It's a rather simple recipe, but the final result will impress your guests.

May 27^th 2020336 K5 2 hours 25 min.

Fillings for macaroons

The macaroons recipe shows how to make these small cakes, and gives the example of a raspberry filling. Here are several other possibilities: Apricot macaroons, Chocolate macaroons, Mint macaroons, Blackcurrant macaroons.

May 30^th 2020312 K 24.3 2 hours 1 min.

Macarons (the original French macaroons)

This recipe really is "of the moment": the success of these small, highly-coloured cakes, in an infinite variety of flavours, is impressive. It's a recipe which needs some care, in order to produce a result worthy of a professional pastrychef. No problem, I will guide you through the recipe, particularly the tricky parts. This variety of flavours means that I test many alternatives, so don't be surprised if in the pictures the colour of the macarons changes, I used the best photograph available...

October 3^rd 20191.61 M 714.6 2 hours 40 min.

Herb olive oil

This flavoured olive oil, easy to prepare, goes very well with Mediterranean cuisine: pizzas, pastas, pan bagnat, etc...

February 21^th 2011325 K3.8 25 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.