Ricotta meatballs with polenta

This is the traditional way of making meatballs in Sicily. Mixing together minced pork and ricotta with the ground beef brings flavour and juiciness and a lovely lightness. I serve them with polenta as they do during the colder months in Italy. This is a great freezer recipe, so it’s worth making double and you can store it away. It’s nice to serve a green vegetable alongside to lighten the dish; I use cavolo nero but you could choose purple sprouting broccoli, shredded cabbage or a green salad.

SERVES 4

200g minced beef

200g minced pork

200g ricotta cheese

2 onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

80g Parmesan cheese, grated

40g fresh fine breadcrumbs

1 medium free-range egg, beaten

75g polenta

1-2tbsp olive oil

50g salted butter, plus

1tbsp (optional)

400g cavolo nero, roughly chopped Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE ROSEMARY TOMATO SAUCE

1tbsp olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed 1tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

400g tin cherry tomatoes

1tbsp tomato purée

1 Place the beef, pork, ricotta, onions, garlic, chopped rosemary, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and beaten egg into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

2 Using your hands, shape into 30 meatballs and transfer to a plate. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 1 hour to set, so they don’t crumble during cooking. You can also leave the meatballs in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze them for up to a month until you’re ready to cook them.

3 While the meatballs are chilling, make the rosemary tomato sauce. Place a saucepan over a low heat and add the oil, then stir in the onion, garlic and rosemary and simmer for 2min. Add the tomatoes and tomato purée, season with salt and pepper and cook for 15min, stirring occasionally.

4 Next, get the polenta cooking. Pour 600ml water into a saucepan over a medium heat and season with salt and pepper. Once the water has come to the boil, whisk in the polenta. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for about 25min, stirring every 5min. Once it has cooked, stir in a tablespoon of olive oil or butter.

5 Now back to the meatballs. Place a frying pan over a medium heat and pour in 1tbsp of olive oil, add the meatballs and brown on all sides. Then spoon the meatballs into the rosemary tomato sauce and cook for 15min.

6 Place the cavolo nero in a pan over a medium heat with the butter and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5min, turning the leaves with tongs so they cook evenly.

7 Divide the polenta between four warmed bowls, followed by the meatballs, an extra spoonful of the rosemary tomato sauce and the buttered cavolo nero.