Erin's Pasta and Polpettine

Yields: 24 meatballs (2 1/4 oz each) or 250-300 mini meatballs (5-6 g each)
Special Equipment: Heavy Dutch Oven
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1lb Hat Brand ground beef
1lb bulk Italian sausage, medium spicy
2 large eggs
8 oz fresh whole milk ricotta
3 oz Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
1 1/2 cups fine ground Italian bread crumbs
1 tsp dried parsley
1 garlic clove, smashed with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup reserved whey from tearing and draining Mozzarella di Bufala*
Sunflower oil/canola oil for frying
Signature Marinara

Directions

1. Mix all of the ingredients together and form into meatballs. Fry the meatballs in batches until the exterior is brown and crisp, about 2 minutes (the meatballs will not be cooked through at this point) and transfer to a wire rack lined sheet pan.
2. Meanwhile heat 2 quarts of my signature marinara over low heat in a large saucepan.
3. Transfer the fried meatballs to the marinara sauce and bring to a simmer.
4. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes to finish cooking the meatballs.

Serve with homemade pasta and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

*Note: Alternately, you can omit the whey and substitute with 1/4 cup water or milk

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