My Mum's Meatballs

Name: My Mum's Meatballs
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: For the Meatballs:; 70 gr of crustless stale bread soaked in 150 ml of milk; 300 gr of beef mince; 200 gr of pork and fennel sausage, removed from the casing; 1 egg; 40 gr of grated parmigiano; 2-3 tablespoons of chopped parsley; 1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg; finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon; salt and pepper for seasoning; For the Sauce:; 1 small brown onion of French shallot, finely chopped; 1/4 of a red capsicum, in one piece; 150 ml of red wine; 800 ml of passata; 400 ml of water; a few parsley leaves; a few celery leaves plus some to add to the finished dish, if liked; 50 ml of extra-virgin olive oil; salt and pepper for seasoning

With

Silvia Colloca

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Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

70 gr of crustless stale bread soaked in 150 ml of milk
300 gr of beef mince
200 gr of pork and fennel sausage, removed from the casing
1 egg
40 gr of grated parmigiano
2-3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper for seasoning

For the Sauce:

1 small brown onion of French shallot, finely chopped
1/4 of a red capsicum, in one piece
150 ml of red wine
800 ml of passata
400 ml of water
a few parsley leaves
a few celery leaves plus some to add to the finished dish, if liked
50 ml of extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

Soak the bread in milk in a large mixing bowl for 20 minutes, then use your hands to mash it into a pulp. Add mince, sausage meat, egg, cheese, parsley, nutmeg, lemon rind and a little salt and pepper and mix well to create an even paste.
Heat up the oil in a large heavy based pan, shape mandarin sized meatballs and fry them off (in batches, if needed) to brown them on both sides. Add the chopped onion (or French shallot) and cook it together with the meatballs for 1-2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine and cook out the alcohol (2-3 minutes). Add passata , water, celery and parsley leaves, capsicum quarter and pinch of salt and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook, covered, for 2-3 hours. Taste for salt and adjust to your liking. Discard the exhausted celery and parsley leaves and capsicum.
Serve as is with crusty bread and greens.

Silvia Colloca

Silvia Colloca is an Italian-born food writer, opera singer, TV producer and host. She has authored seven cookbooks, including Silvia’s Cucina, Made in Italy, La Dolce Vita, Love, Laugh, Bake!, Simple Italian (2024), and The Italian Homecook (2025), all published by Penguin.

Silvia’s most recent television work is Silvia’s Italian Masterclass (Channel 10), with its latest season airing in October 2025. The series is currently funding for Season 4. She has also appeared as a special guest on SBS’s Mastermind in 2025. Her earlier TV credits include the SBS Food series Cook Like an Italian, which has screened internationally across three seasons, as well as Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca (SBS), filmed on location in the Le Marche and Abruzzo regions and earning her a 2015 TV WEEK Logie Award nomination for Best New Talent. She also co-wrote, co-produced and hosted the ABC prime-time series Silvia’s Italian Table in 2016.

Outside of food and television, Silvia has enjoyed a career as a celebrated opera singer and actress. In 2022, she released her debut solo classical album with Universal Music, which topped the Classical Charts for over 20 weeks. That same year, she performed with Andrea Bocelli at his Sydney concert, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.