I tried this sandwich of meatballs with tomato or polpette della on one of my visits to Rome.
It was in the Mercado de Testaccio, in a place that always has a very long queue as a sample of what awaits you if you have a peace. It's the place of Mara Cipriani and Sergio Esposito, and it's called Mordi e Vai, ("bite and go").
So you don't have to go there today, I'll leave you the recipe. You'll tell me
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 kg minced beef and pork with 4 fresh sausages or fresh sausage without casing
- 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 tbsp grated pecorino cheese (you can add grana padano if you can't find pecorino)
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
For the tomato sauce
- 1 can of crushed tomatoes and 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped very
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- half a teaspoon of sugar
- a teaspoon of dried oregano
- a bunch of fresh basil
To fry
- 2 tablespoons flour
- olive oil for frying
to assemble the sandwiches
- a few bread rolls
- optional shredded mozzarella or fresh mozzarella
Directions
Grate the mozzarella cheese and pecorino with a coarse grater and set aside in a bowl.
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the meatballs and knead with your hands.
We make some meatballs the size of a golf ball and soak them in flour. Fry in plenty of hot olive oil.
In a saucepan we make the tomato sauce. First sauté garlic and onion, add the tomato and fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper and let cook for a few minutes. Add the meatballs and a bunch of chopped basil and bring to a boil over low heat.
When they are ready, cut a bread roll in half without cutting it completely. Place three meatballs and a tablespoon of tomato sauce, some fresh basil leaves and some grated mozzarella. Our meatball sandwich with tomato is ready
Tips and Tricks
- Prepare the meatballs and freeze them in portions so you can make your Tomato Meatball Sandwich when you like it the most
- Preparation time: 30 minutes
- Difficulty: easy