Fish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce (Polpette di Pesce)
Flaked sea bass mixed with egg and breadcrumbs, shaped into small meatballs, fried golden, and simmered in tomato sauce. A Sardinian way to use cooked fish.
Ingredients
Fish
Sauce
Binder
Aromatics
Coating
Cooking
Frying
Seasoning
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Instructions
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Cook the sea bass. Place the whole sea bass in a pot of simmering salted water (or steam it). Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily. Remove from the water and let cool.
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Flake the fish. Remove all skin and bones from the cooked sea bass. Flake the flesh finely with a fork into a large bowl.
Tip: Pick over the flakes carefully for small pin bones. They are easy to miss and unpleasant to bite into. -
Mix the filling. Add the egg, breadcrumbs, and a generous pinch of salt to the flaked fish. Mix gently with your hands until just combined. Do not overwork the mixture or the meatballs will be dense.
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Form the meatballs. With damp hands, roll the mixture into small balls, about 3 cm in diameter. You should get about 20 to 24 meatballs.
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Flour and fry. Spread the flour on a plate. Roll each meatball lightly in the flour, shaking off the excess. Heat the vegetable oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Fry the meatballs in batches, turning gently, until golden on all sides. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes per batch.
Tip: Do not crowd the pan. Fry in batches of 6 to 8 so the oil temperature stays high. Crowded meatballs steam instead of fry. -
Make the tomato sauce. While the meatballs fry, heat the olive oil in a separate pan. Sauté the chopped onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato passata and season with salt. Cook for 15 minutes over medium-low heat.
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Simmer. Transfer the fried meatballs into the tomato sauce. Gently shake the pan to coat them. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, until the meatballs have absorbed some of the sauce.
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Serve. Serve the meatballs and sauce in shallow bowls, with crusty bread on the side.
Storage & Meal Prep
The meatballs keep for 2 days in the refrigerator. They actually improve on the second day as the sauce soaks into them further. Reheat gently in the sauce. They do not freeze well because the texture of the fish changes.
Variations
- Baked Instead of Fried: Place the floured meatballs on an oiled baking sheet and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes, turning once, until golden. Then transfer to the sauce as directed. The texture is lighter but less crisp.
- With Mint: Add 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint to the fish mixture before forming the meatballs. Mint with fish is common in southern Sardinian cooking.
- With Raisins and Pine Nuts: Stir 30g of raisins and 20g of pine nuts into the tomato sauce. This is a Sicilian-influenced variation that turns up in some western Sardinian households.
FAQ
Why cook the fish first instead of using raw fish?
Cooking the fish first makes it easy to flake cleanly and removes any moisture that would make the meatball mixture too wet. Raw fish would work, but you would need to grind it finely and the texture would be different. The pre-cooked method gives a lighter, more tender meatball.
Can I use a different fish?
Yes. Any firm white fish works: cod, hake, monkfish, or snapper. Avoid oily fish like mackerel or sardines here, as the flavor would be too strong for a delicate meatball. Leftover cooked fish from a previous meal works perfectly.
How do I keep the meatballs from falling apart?
Three things help: flake the fish finely, do not skip the egg, and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes before forming the balls. The flour coating also helps hold them together during frying. Handle them gently when turning.
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The Story Behind This Dish
Polpette di pesce are a practical Sardinian dish. You start with cooked fish, which means this is a good way to use leftover sea bass from the day before. The fish gets flaked, bound with egg and breadcrumbs, rolled into small balls, fried, and finished in tomato sauce.
The technique is close to what you would do for meat polpette, but lighter. The fish flakes give the meatballs a softer, more delicate texture than ground meat. The egg and breadcrumbs hold everything together, and the flour coating gives a thin crust when fried. The brief simmer in tomato sauce softens the crust and lets the sauce soak in.
This is not a fancy dish. It is home cooking, the kind of thing that appears on a Tuesday when there is fish in the fridge and a jar of passata in the cupboard. The frying step adds work, but you can bake the meatballs instead if you want to skip it. The result will be less crisp but still good.
Serve with bread. The sauce is the best part, and you will want something to push it around the bowl.
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