Meatballs with gravy

Prepare two bowls, in one of which you soak the stale bread in water. In the other bowl, add the minced beef together with the sausage, which has been removed from its casing and broken up by hand.

Next, add the 2 eggs, bread and grated cheese to the meat mix you created in the second bowl.

To season the meatballs, add chopped mortadella, finely chopped parsley, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients together using your hands: you should obtain a homogeneous and compact dough.

Continue forming small balls of about 4 cm with your hands with the meat mixture: when they are all ready, fry them in a frying pan with oil.

Once fried, transfer the meatballs onto sheets of paper towels so that they dry up from excess oil.

Finally, pour the Piennolo 'Pacchettelle' cherry tomato sauce into a saucepan, plunge the meatballs into it and leave them to take on flavour with the pan covered and over moderate heat for about 10 minutes or until the meatballs have absorbed some of the sauce.

BAKING ALTERNATIVE : Lightly oil an oven dish and place the meatballs in it. Add a drizzle of oil and bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 40 minutes (cooking time will depend on the size of the meatballs!), until golden brown on the surface.