Polpette al Sugo

Mince 3 cloves of garlic for the meatballs and 2 additional cloves for the sauce, keeping them separate.

Finely chop the fresh parsley and roughly chop the fresh basil, keeping them separate.

Finely dice the onion and finely grate the Parmesan cheese.

Combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, Parmesan, 3 minced garlic cloves, parsley, 5ml olive oil, 2.5ml salt, and 1.25ml black pepper in a bowl and mix gently with your hands until just combined; do not overmix.

Roll the mixture into 12 meatballs (approximately 40g each) and place on a plate.

Heat 10ml olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat until shimmering.

Add the meatballs to the hot oil in a single layer and cook for 3–4 minutes until browned on the bottom.

Shake the pan gently and cook for a further 2–3 minutes until browned all over, then transfer the meatballs to a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the diced onion to the same pan. Sauté for 5 minutes until soft and golden.

Add the 2 additional minced garlic cloves to the pan and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Pour in the crushed tomatoes, 2.5ml salt, and 1.25ml black pepper, stirring to combine. Return the meatballs to the pan, nestling them into the sauce.

Simmer over low-medium heat for 12–15 minutes until the sauce thickens and the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 71°C when measured with a meat thermometer inserted into the centre of the largest meatball.

Remove from heat and stir in the fresh basil.