Spicy Fennel Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
The inspiration and a loose adaptation of this dish came from the book “Polpo”.
The meatballs can be also served as cicchetti, just stick a toothpick into individual meatballs.
Otherwise they make for a delicious meal on their own accompanied by a rocket salad with shaved parmesan and perhaps some crunchy bread on a side.
For about 40 meatballs:
- 600-650 g of minced beef
- 400-450 g of minced pork
- 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
- a couple of pinches of chilli flakes or half of a small dried red chilli (this is optional in case you wish your meatballs to be on a milder side)
- 1 egg
- 70-80 g of breadcrumbs
- a few pinches of salt
- a few pinches of black pepper
For the tomato sauce:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- half of a small dried red chilli or a couple of pinches of chilli flakes- 4-5 pinches of dried oregano
- a tip of a teaspoon of sugar
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 l of tomato passata or peeled tinned tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
Begin with the sauce:
In a large pot heat up the olive oil, add the chopped onion and fry for about 5 minutes. Next add the garlic as well as the chilli and fry all together until the onion turns translucent.
Pour in the passata, season with the oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Give it a stir and let it bubble away on a low to medium heat without the lid. Add more salt if needed and stir occasionally.
Whilst the sauce simmers on the stove, make the meatballs.
In a hot pan toast the fennel seeds along with the chilli pepper or chilli flakes for a few minutes. Shake the pan often and be careful not to burn the spices. Once you notice that the seeds start to release their aroma, switch the heat off. Wait for a few minutes and grind the spices using mortar and pestle (or a coffe/ spice grinder).
Place all the ingredients for the meatballs along with the ground spices into a large bowl.
Mix all the ingredients using your hands until very well combined.
Roll in your hands small balls, more or less the size of a walnut, and put them directly, one by one, into the pot with the simmering sauce.
Gently stir or shake the pot to allow the meatballs to move around and cover with the sauce. Don’t worry if initially all the meatballs are not covered with the sauce. It will change during cooking.
Cook everything on a low heat for about 1 hour or so with the lid on giving it a stir avery 15 minutes. Taste the sauce and season again if needed before serving.
