Recipe by Joe Leckie, Photography by Dan Tyler Ross
Serves: 4-6
Difficulty: Intermediate
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 400g Noble and Wild Venison mince
- 200g Pork mince
- 100g breadcrumbs
- 300 ml Milk
- 100g Butter
- 50g Parmisan
- 1 x tbsp Dried oregano
- 2 X Tins San Marzano Tomatoes (Good ones)
- 2 cloves garlic (Finely sliced)
- 200g Instant polenta
- 1 onion (Finely chopped)
- 1 shallot (Finely chopped)
- 2 sprigs of basil
- Salt and Pepper
- Good quality olive oil
- 200ml Veg stock
Method:
First make the tomato sauce, add a glug of olive to a pan and slowly sweat the garlic and onions on a low heat for around 5 mins. After this add the tins of tomatoes, basil and seasoning and keep on low heat and cook slowly for about 45 minutes. Once you have done this transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.
While the sauce is cooking, make the Polpette (Meat balls) Firstly soak 100g bread crumbs in around 100ml of milk for around 5 mins. While this is soaking, sweat the onions in a little olive oil until translucent. Next mix together the venison mince, pork mince, dried oregano, cooked onions, soaked breadcrumbs and seasoning. Once the mix is combined well, get a baking tray with parchment on it and start making the meat balls. They should be around the size of a ping pong ball. Once the meat balls are made put your oven on 250c and seal the meat balls for around 5 mins until nicely sealed on the outside and just cooked through (You will finish cooking them in the sauce).
To make the polenta the rest of the milk, butter and Veg stock to a pan over a low heat until it is nearly boiling then whisk in the polenta in a couple of stages. Whisk constantly to make sure it doesn’t stick. After about 15 minutes you should have the correct consistency and the polenta should be cooked and very creamy. To finish, season with salt and pepper and the parmesan.
To bring the dish together, plate a generous serving of polenta on a plate then add polpette, which have been warmed through in the tomato sauce, and finish with a fresh grating of parmesan.
