Pulpety with cold beet salad

These Polish meatballs are simmered in broth and usually served with boiled potatoes and a side salad of cold beetroot (beets) or sauerkraut. If you’ve got junior mouths to feed, mashed potato is the better option. This dish is unabashedly hearty, but works a treat in both the cooler and warmer months, the tang of the beetroot cutting nicely through the richness of the pulpety.

Pulpety with cold beet salad. Credit: Mark Roper / Hardie Grant Books

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  55 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Cold beet salad

• 3 beetroot (beets)
• 1 apple
• 2 dill pickles, coarsely grated
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Meatballs

• 2 tbsp salted butter
• 1 onion, finely minced
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) pork
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) beef
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 slices bread, blitzed to coarse crumbs (see Note)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish
• 2 tbsp finely chopped dill
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) chicken broth
• 4 bay leaves
• 6 whole black peppercorns
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 8 slices dried porcini mushroom
• 2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour

To serve

• Boiled or mashed potatoes

Cooling and chilling time: about 1 hour total.

Instructions

1. To prepare the cold beet salad, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the beetroot whole for 30 minutes, or until softened but still slightly crunchy. Drain and leave to cool for 15 minutes, then peel and coarsely grate them.
2. To prepare the meatballs, melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the onion until golden brown around the edges. Combine the meat, garlic and bread in a large bowl, then add the sautéed onion, parsley, dill, egg, salt and pepper and mix until combined.
3. Bring the broth to a simmer in a saucepan with the bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice berries and mushrooms over a medium heat. Form the meat mixture into even balls about 5 cm (2 in) in diameter. Drop the raw balls into the simmering broth and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes. Take one out and cut it open to check if it’s cooked through. Once cooked, take the meatballs out and strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with 180 ml (6 fl oz) cold water. Return the broth to the stove and heat through gently. Add the flour slurry, stir well and bring to the boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Set aside until you’re ready to serve.
5. To finish the salad, grate the apple and combine with the grated beetroot, dill pickle and onion in a bowl. Add the vegetable oil and lemon juice, stirring thoroughly. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Chill the salad in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving.
6. When you’re ready to serve, return the meatballs to the sauce and heat through over a low heat. Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes and the cold beet salad. Garnish with parsley.

Note

The beauty of this recipe is that you can use any bread you have on hand; it doesn’t have to be stale, fresh, white or dark. I love Khorasan bread for its sweet, buttery depth.

This is an edited extract of Around the World in 80 Meatballs by Bunny Banyai. Published by Hardie Grant Books. Photography by Mark Roper.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.