Ciao Bella Polpette Meatballs Recipes

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine olive oil, basil leaves and garlic over very low heat until mixture is very fragrant and garlic turns golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Strain mixture, discarding basil and garlic; set oil aside., In a Dutch oven, combine crushed tomatoes, water, tomato paste, salt, chopped basil, pepper and reserved olive oil. Bring to a boil; remove ½ cup and set aside. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, while preparing polpette., Meanwhile, to make polpette, in a large bowl, combine all polpette ingredients and reserved 1/2 cup tomato mixture. Gently mix until combined (mixture will be loose). With wet hands, roll 1/4 cup mixture into balls. Place on a baking sheet or plate. Add raw meatballs to simmering sauce, gently shaking pan to allow for more space. Bring to a simmer; cook, covered, at least 45 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Steps:

• Prepare a double recipe of Ciao Bella Salsa Pomodoro in a large stock pot. Allow to come to a simmer for 30 minutes.
• While sauce is simmering, in a small bowl tear white bread into small pieces and soak with milk until well saturated. Mash with a fork until bread is broken down.
• In a large bowl combine ground beef, bread with milk, parmesan cheese, eggs, grated onion, parsley, garlic and salt and pepper.
• Scoop one ladle full of sauce right into the meat mixture and mix well. This is what will make the meatballs tender.
• Shape into medium size meatballs using about 2-3 tablespoons of meat mixture. Drop into simmering sauce. Simmer far another 30-40 minutes until meatballs have cooked through and sauce is thickened.
• Serve over you favorite pasta or have wonderful meatball subs. We always seem to eat all the meatballs and have left over sauce. So I freeze any left over sauce.