Italian Beef Meatballs Simmered in Tomato Sugo

What you need

• 100 g (3 1/2 oz) stale white bread, crusts removed
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) whole milk
• 500 g (1 lb) minced beef, or half beef, half pork
• 1 egg
• 50 g (1/2 cup) parmigiano reggiano, finely grated, plus extra for serving
• 1 clove garlic, finely grated
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 700 g (24 oz) tomato passata
• 4 leaves basil

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Tear the bread into small pieces and soak it in the milk for 10 min. Squeeze out the excess milk and crumble the bread into a large bowl.

2. 2

   Add the beef, egg, parmigiano, garlic, parsley, nutmeg, 1 tsp of the salt and the black pepper.

3. 3

   Work the mixture with your hands only until evenly combined; overmixing makes the polpette dense.

4. 4

   With wet hands, roll into balls about 4 cm (1 1/2 in) across. Set them on a tray.

5. 5

   For the sugo, warm 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a wide, deep pan over medium-low heat. Cook the onion until soft and golden, 6-8 min.

6. 6

   Pour in the passata and 100 ml water, add the basil and the remaining salt, and simmer gently for 10 min.

7. 7

   Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.

8. 8

   Fry the meatballs in batches, turning, until browned all over, 5-6 min per batch. They will finish cooking in the sauce.

9. 9

   Lower the browned meatballs into the sugo. Cover partly and simmer over low heat, turning them once, until cooked through to 71 °C (160 °F) in the centre, 25-30 min.

10. 10

    Taste the sauce and adjust the salt.

11. 11

    Serve hot with extra grated parmigiano.

Imported from coleycooks.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.