Polpettine alle Olive e Maggiorana / Little Meatballs with Olives and Marjoram

For about 22 polpettine:

• 500-600 g of minced beef, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs
• 120 g of green olives, weight after removing the stone (make sure that the olives are full of character, they don’t have to be expensive, but anything delicate will not work as well)
• 4 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano  or Grana Padano cheese
• a few pinches of dry marjoram (or fresh leaves picked from a few marjoram stems)
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil for frying, about 4 tablespoons
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled (for frying only)

Place the ground beef in a large mixing bowl.

Roughly chop the drained olives and mix them with the meat.

Add the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, marjoram and season well with salt and pepper.

Mix very well using your hands adding one egg to bind the mix together.

Form small meatballs, about the size of a large walnut, and press them gently to flatten.

Warm up on medium-low heat the olive oil and two garlic cloves – lightly squashed.

Gradually add the meatballs into the pan and fry gently for about 5 minutes on each side, making sure not to burn the garlic.

Cover the pan with the lid and cook the polpettine until the meat is cooked through.

Decorate with fresh parsley moments before serving.