Using Gleeson's Toscana sauce meatballs, we add a creamy cheese sauce and bake in the oven, add a little drizzle of basil pesto on top and serve with tagliatelle.
Recipe by Aisling Larkin
| Prep: 15 Minutes | Cook: 30-45 Minutes | Serves: 4 |
Ingredients
- Polpette (Meatballs)
- 2 trays Gleeson Butchers Meatballs in Toscana Sauce (800g)
- Bechamel Sauce
- 50g butter/margarine
- 50g white flour
- 500mls milk
- 120g cheddar grated
- Optional: 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- Salt & black pepper
- Topping
- 100g cheese grated (either cheddar / mozzarella)
- 240g of any pasta of your choice
- Italian Breads
- Ciabatta Loaf
- Pesto – (basil leaves, olive oil, parmesan, nuts, olive oil, seasoning)
- Sun-blushed tomatoes / Beef tomato
- Ball fresh mozzarella
Method
Polpette al Forno
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown off the meatballs for 4- 5 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and put into a large oven proof dish, along with any sauce.
- To make the béchamel – melt the butter in a medium saucepan, stir in the flour and cook out for 1 minute. Gradually add in the milk and stir in until it get gradually gets thick. Stir in the mustard, cheese and the seasoning.
- Dollop spoonfuls of creamy béchamel sauce over the golden brown meatballs and then sprinkle with some mozzarella/cheddar.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes until golden and bubbly. Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Boil, drain and serve the pasta and some Italian bread with the Polpette al Forno
Italian Bread (Bruschetta)
- Make the pesto. Blitz everything together.
- Turn on the oven.
- Open, drain & slice the mozzarella. Slice the tomato.
- Spread the pesto over the bread, pop on the sun-blushed tomatoes and layer the mozzarella on top.
- Bake for 10/15minutes until melty and golden.
