This week our Junior Chefs will be making – Italian meatballs with a tomato, basil & mascarpone sauce served with tagliatelle.

Our meatballs are going to be super juicy and full of goodness including meat, onions, bread, milk, and herbs, served in a tomato, basil & mascarpone sauce.

Meatballs are known in Italy as polpette they are not served with pasta but infact bread and nearly always include two meats normally beef, or veal & pork.  (Ours will use beef and pork and turkey for those who do not eat pork).

A tip to making soft meatballs is to use a panade – which is a mixture of starch like bread mixed with a liquid like milk which is then added to minced meat.

Our sauce will be made from Passata which is an uncooked tomato purée that has been strained of seeds and skins. It originated in Italy but is used throughout Europe.

Tomato sauce and tomato paste are cooked products, which instantly makes them different from Passata.  In addition, tomato sauce often has other ingredients such as carrots, onions, and garlic, while tomato paste is cooked down to be extra concentrated and thick. You would not want to substitute either product if Passata is called for in your recipe. The best substitution is tomato purée or take plain canned tomatoes and run them through a sieve.

This week we will be using lots of skills to make our dish: Soaking mixing/combining and mashing, shaping into balls, pan frying, chopping and mincing simmering.

See you Saturday Junior Chefs.