Easy Italian Recipes

 MAKES 6-8 SERVINGS

- 3 or 4 slices coarse country bread, crusts removed and crumbled (about 1 1/2 cups/3 oz/90 g)
- 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) whole milk
- 1 pound (500 g) ground (minced) beef chuck
- 1/2 pound (250 g) ground (minced) veal
- 1/2 pound (250 g) ground (minced) pork
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup (4 oz/125 g) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1/4 cup (1/3 oz/10 g) finely chopped fresh flat-Ieaf (Italian) parsley
- 1 dove garlic, minced
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil

For the sauce
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 dove garlic, minced
- 2 cans (28 oz/875 g each) plum (Roma) tomatoes, crushed
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 or 4 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

This recipe makes a generous amount of sugo, or "sauce," so you will have plenty left over to serve with pasta as a primo or to save for another meal.
Meatballs, known variously as polpette and polpettine, depending on their size,
or as purpette in Calabrian dialect, are prepared this way throughout southern Italy.

In a small bowl, mix the crumbled bread and milk and let stand for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the beef, veal, pork, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Squeeze the bread with your hands to remove the excess moisture and discard the liquid. Add the bread to the meat mixture and mix gently until combined.

Rinse your hands with water but do not dry them. Shape the meat into 2-inch (5-cm) balls, rolling them lightly between your moistened palms. As the balls are made, set them aside on a large platter or tray.
In a frying pan large enough to hold all of the meatballs in a single layer, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning them occasionally, until crisp and browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan.

To make the sauce, return the pan to medium heat, add the onion, and sauté until softened and golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes and their juice, stir well, and deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits from the pan bottom. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Stir in the basil.

Return the meatballs to the pan and cook, basting them often with the sauce, until hot and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a warmed platter and spoon some of the sauce over them; reserve the remaining sauce for another use. Serve at once.

Buon appetito !