Name: Italian sausage polpettina & macaroni bake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 150ml olive oil; 2 large onions finely diced; 2 garlic cloves crushed; 100g fresh breadcrumb; 50ml milk; 500g quality beef mince; 500g Italian sausage (about 8), meat squeezed from the skins; good handful chopped parsley; 200ml red wine; 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes; 500g pack macaroni; 50g butter; 50g plain flour; 600ml milk; 100g grated tasty cheese such as mature cheddar or gruyère

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Italian sausage polpettina & macaroni bake

Italian sausage polpettina & macaroni bake

John Torode

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Serves 8

Easy

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 1 hr and 20 mins

A star rating of 4 out of 5.16 ratingsRate

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This big dish is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser – you can never make too much of this kind of food

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

150ml olive oil
2 large onions

finely diced
2 garlic cloves

crushed
100g fresh breadcrumb
50ml milk
500g quality beef

mince
500g Italian sausage

(about 8), meat squeezed from the skins
good handful chopped parsley
200ml red wine
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
500g pack macaroni

For the white sauce

50g butter
50g plain flour
600ml milk
100g grated tasty cheese

such as mature cheddar or gruyère

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Nutrition: per serving

kcal881
fat47g
saturates16g
carbs77g
sugars13g
fibre4g
protein40g
salt1.75g

Method

step 1

Make the white sauce. Melt the butter in a medium pan, then stir in the flour. Keeping the heat high, whisk in the milk and bring to the boil, whisking until smooth and thickened. Season with a good pinch of salt and some pepper, then stir in most of the grated cheese and set aside, with the surface covered with cling film to stop if forming a skin.
step 2

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole or frying pan, then add the onions and garlic and a real good grind of black pepper and salt. Cook slowly and gently until the onions are soft but not coloured. Take half the mix out and mix with the breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl. Using a slotted spoon, lift the rest of the onions out of the pan, leaving the oil behind, and set aside.
step 3

Mix the mince and sausagemeat, chopped parsley and lots of salt and pepper into the breadcrumbs. Mix really well with your hands until the whole thing becomes pasty rather than lumpy. Shape into the size of ping-pong balls, then heat the pan again and brown the Simply serve with a fresh green salad balls in batches in the leftover onion oil. Remove the final batch, then return the reserved onions to the pan with the wine. Bubble over a high heat, scraping the bottom of the pan, then stir in the tomatoes and meatballs. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 mins. Can be made up to 2 days ahead or frozen.
step 4

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and boil the macaroni according to pack instructions. Drain well, then mix with the meatball sauce. Tip into the largest ovenproof dish you have. Top with the white sauce (warm it a bit if it is slightly solid), then scatter with the remaining cheese. Bake for 35-40 mins until bubbling and golden.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2009

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A star rating of 4 out of 5.16 ratings

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