Spaghetti con polpette (Spaghetti with meatballs)
We've kept things fairly traditional here, but the rich red-wine sauce and aromatics of thyme and oregano make for a winning formula, so why mess with it?
- 30 mins preparation
- 1 hr 30 mins cooking
- Serves 8
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Ingredients
- 750 gm dried spaghetti
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- To serve: torn basil leaves
Sugo
- 1½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 80 ml red wine
- 1.4 litres tomato passata
- 2 each fresh bay leaves and thyme sprigs
Polpette
- 800 gm minced veal
- 200 gm minced pork
- 60 gm pine nuts, toasted
- 50 gm each parmesan and pecorino, finely grated, plus extra to serve
- 50 gm mild pancetta, finely chopped
- ¼ cup fine soft white breadcrumbs
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp each coarsely chopped parsley and oregano
- 2 tsp each coarsely chopped rosemary and thyme
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Method
- 1Preheat oven to 190C. For sugo, heat extra-virgin olive oil in a wide shallow saucepan over medium heat, add onion and sauté until starting to soften (5 minutes). Add garlic, sauté until very tender (10-12 minutes), add wine and cook until reduced by one-third (2-4 minutes). Add tomato passata and herbs, bring to the boil, season to taste and set aside.
- 2Meanwhile, for polpette, combine ingredients (except olive oil) in a bowl, season to taste and mix with your hands to combine well. Roll golf-ball-sized pieces of mixture in your hands until they start to feel elastic, and set balls aside. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat, add polpette in batches and turn occasionally until golden (2-4 minutes). Add to pan with sugo, season to taste, cover with a lid, transfer to oven and bake until polpette are cooked through and sauce is rich and thick (1 hour).
- 3Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente (5-10 minutes). Drain, toss in extra-virgin olive oil and serve with polpette in sugo, scattered with basil leaves and extra parmesan and pecorino.