Most people think a meatball isn’t a meatball unless it’s drowning in red sauce and sitting on a pile of pasta. In Italy, there isn’t just one way to make polpette, there are a lot. Growing up, I saw them made with different meats, different cheeses, or even just vegetables. To me, a meatball is a vessel for flavor, and when people tell me their family has the “one and only” recipe, I think they are missing out on the beauty of the Italian variety.
This recipe, Polpette con Patate e Piselli, is the one that proves you don’t need a heavy sauce to have a world-class meal. While meatballs in sauce are widely recognized, all over Italy they are enjoyed in a lot of different ways. This is the ultimate homestyle comfort: a one-pan meal where the meatballs, potatoes, and peas cook together to create their own savory glaze. It’s perfect for a quick weeknight dinner, but it’s hearty enough to serve as a Sunday feast. Just grab some bread to soak up the juices and you’re good to go.
After watching this video, I hope you try my recipe, but furthermore, I want you to experiment. Use this as a guide to start making meals with the ingredients you already have in your refrigerator. That is the true spirit of the Italian kitchen.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb Ground pork
1/2 lb Ground beef
1 cup Peas (fresh or frozen)
1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
1/2 Onion, chopped
2 Large eggs
1 cup Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Grated Pecorino Romano
Fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup White wine
1 1/2 cups Vegetable broth
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Black pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, pork, breadcrumbs, Pecorino Romano, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix by hand and roll into golf ball sized meatballs.
2. Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and the meatballs. Brown the meatballs on all sides to lock in the juices, they don’t need to be cooked through yet.
3. Once the meatballs have a nice golden-brown color, pour in the white wine. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any tasty bits from the bottom of the pan and allow the wine to reduce by half.
4. Add the cubed potatoes, peas, and vegetable broth. Give it a gentle stir, cover the pan, and turn the heat to low. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
5. Uncover the pan and let it simmer for a few more minutes. This allows the liquid to “tighten up” into a rich, flavorful sauce. Serve warm and enjoy!
⭐ Video Chapters
0:00 The soul of Southern Italian comfort food
0:35 Choosing the right meat blend
1:49 Rolling the perfect polpette
3:36 Searing and deglazing with white wine
4:58 Adding in the potatoes and peas
5:39 Adding in the broth and simmering
6:26 Previewing in the pan
7:00 The magic moment
7:18 Plating
7:54 Giovanni
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
✅ One-Pan Meal: No need to boil potatoes separately; everything cooks together, meaning less cleanup and more flavor.
✅ Flavor Over Sauce: Without heavy tomato sauce, you actually taste the quality of the meat and the sweetness of the peas. It’s a cleaner, more rustic way to eat.
✅ Authentic Home Cooking: This is the kind of dish you find in family kitchens in southern Italy.
Comment Below:
I grew up seeing meatballs made a hundred different ways, but I know for many people, “meatballs” always means “red sauce.” Have you ever had meatballs prepared like this? Let me know in the comments! 👇
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#meatballs #italianfood #easyrecipe
34 Comments
There are a lot of Italian cooking podcasts on the internet – no one like this 😍. Homestyle simple to prepare dishes , no too many ingredients and you don't have to spend " half a day " preparing it ! For me ,this are the tastiest and most practical 😋👌
P.S. I have almost the same recipe – my grandchildren favorite ! .When the onion is frying I add honey and turmeric . I skip the wine and the broth using water instead . For a change , with the same meat I will stuff cut up zucchinis 😘
I am not Italian but my grandmother grew up around Italians and we had meatballs often as a child. I miss her and thank you for sharing your beautiful culture with all of us❤
Found your channel recently and love the simple homestyle recipes. Thanks for sharing.
This seems a lot similar to how i cook my minced lamb the only diffence being instead of parsley i use coriander and less potatoes and add cauliflowers and a.little bit of carrot and some hot chili flakes. No wine or cheese but generous amount of ghee. Cheers from india 😊
Thank you again, Giovanni. I watch ALOT of Italian food cooking videos by all different people, and I do believe you are hands down the BEST! I am so glad you are expanding people's notions of how to enjoy meatballs. This particular recipe should persuade many to expand their meatball horizons😊I wonder if you and your family enjoy wine with your meals and, if so, do you prefer red or white? Do you mostly use Pinot Grigio? Just curious. Looking forward to your next delicious video and definitely hoping for a cookbook from you with lots of color photos! Cheers!
Looks delicious ❤️ I am going to make it… Thank you
Add milk to the meatball mix to prevent them from being too dry. 🎉🎉🎉
I wonder your pan is steel or coated nonstick steel ? Thx 🙏🏻 meatballs are legend 👌🫠
The combo seems delicious so I just added this as Wednesday (leftovers Thurs) meal. I have peas but I bet it would also be good with carrots? Anyway, it's peas this week – thank you, Giovanni! PS: I love that you woo'd your wife with no tomato sauce meatballs. Not joking, it could go in the preface to the cookbook you write five-ten years from now 🙂
Wow, that looks great. I love tomato sauce, but this sounds even better. Peas are
my fever and have them in with meatballs big bonus. I just love yours recipe
because they are so simple and amazing. I try lots of your recipes and I was not
disappointed. Thank you so much and hope to see you soon in next video ❤
Hi Gio. I grew up eating many dishes made with meatballs. My favorite dish we made was small meatballs with garden fresh Italian flat beans and tomatoes (Roma) from the garden sprinkled with Romano cheese.
BELLSSIMO
I'm really impressed both with this gentleman's food and his relaxed, no- nonsense teaching style. New subscriber and will try this. His lasagne is the best!
Wonderful!
I make this as well but I use green beans instead of peas😊
This is like "theater of one actor." Perfect!
Looks delicious 😋 Thank you ❤
Making it today. Looks delicious.
Nice job…first time seeing one of your recipes …Ill subscribe…
Your killing my diet. I love this! Bellisimo!
Deconstructed Shepherds Pie, i'll try it
So, you don't put any garlic or onion in the meatballs, interesting. I need to make it this way.
Looks delicious! Can't wait to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing your family recipes.
Complimenting your mother-in-law. Well done sir. That goes a long way.
Looks awesome. My kids would go for that.
I'm watching this and getting very hungry. I loved Sundays…Mom makingsauce with meatballs ,a pork chop and braciola…The Best!
Keep us happy and hungry!
My husband is from Palermo Sicily, his family taught me to make meatballs with pine nuts and currants mixed in veal with eggs, breadcrumbs, no cheese. They are cooked with potatoes in the oven. Delicious 😋
Great looking recipe, definitely giving it a try! When I worked in Athens I had something almost exactly the same, with lots of fresh dill added with the peas & potatoes… 😘
Going to make some big batches for the freezer …..they can go with anything really and so handy to have them ready to go ❤
Master! New to me , looks very good. Thank you.
My god I’m actually drooling 😂❤
that's good, cuz I'm allergic 2 all kinds of tomato products!!!
What weeknight? Tomorrow Sunday after my son’s hockey game we’re gonna hit this recipe!! We’ll shape the meatballs ahead of time, to save time. I trust ALL of Giovanni’s recipes!! ❤
This had all of my favourites! Meat, potatoes and peas, definitely going to make this! Thanks mate!
Looks delicious. Can you show us a chicken or turkey meatball recipe.