The story behind the recipe
The name 'pulpety' comes from the Italian 'polpetta' (from 'polpa', meaning pulp) and is described as a cooked dish made from minced meat, fish, or offal mixed with egg, bread, and spices, eaten separately in sauce or as an addition to soups. In Poland, these meatballs are called 'pulpety', 'pulpeciki', or 'klopsy' (from the German 'Klopse') and are usually served boiled, in sauce, with potatoes, rice, or groats. The same mixture, when fried and flattened, becomes a 'kotlet mielony'.
Cooked meatballs are known from old Polish cookbooks. Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa in '365 obiadach za 5 złotych' (1871 edition) advises adding 'a bit of chopped parsley or dill' and 'cooking in broth'. Marta Norkowska in 'Najnowszej kuchni' from 1903 writes that meatballs 'can be made from any meat, even pork', and they are shaped by hand dipped in flour and cooked in boiling water. Elżbieta Kiewnarska describes the dill sauce in her book 'Zupy i sosy' from 1929: it is a white sauce made from broth with cream and 'a generous spoonful of chopped fresh dill', mainly served with white meat stews. When meatballs and dill sauce combined into one dish is uncertain; we have not found a dated source.
For many families, this is a taste of childhood. Ania Gotuje recalls that her grandmother and mother made these meatballs, most often in a dill and cream sauce without frying, and in a version with poultry as a meal for children. Polish Your Kitchen, a blog for the Polish diaspora in the USA, briefly states: 'Kids love this!'. We did not find meatballs or klopsy on the List of Traditional Products of the Ministry of Agriculture, and they do not have a protected name in the European Union.
Ingredients
Pulpety (około 14 sztuk)
-
500 g łopatka wieprzowa (zmielona na średnich oczkach; może być też karkówka)
Abroad: USA i Kanada: pork shoulder (pork butt) albo ground pork; Wielka Brytania i Australia: pork shoulder albo pork mince; Niemcy: Schweineschulter albo Schweinehackfleisch -
1 pc bułka kajzerka (świeża albo czerstwa)
Abroad: USA: Kaiser roll albo biała bułka; Wielka Brytania: white bread roll; Niemcy: Brötchen albo Semmel - woda, mleko albo bulion (do namoczenia bułki)
- 1 pc jajko (średnie)
- 1 tsp (about 6 g) sól (płaska)
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) pieprz czarny mielony
-
1 tbsp (15 ml) koperek (drobno posiekany, do masy)
Abroad: fresh dill (bywa opisany jako dill weed); Niemcy: Dill
Bulion
-
1 l bulion drobiowy albo warzywny
Abroad: USA i Kanada: chicken broth albo vegetable broth; Wielka Brytania: chicken stock albo vegetable stock; Niemcy: Hühnerbrühe albo Gemüsebrühe - 160 g marchewka (3 młode, w cienkich plasterkach)
Sos koperkowy
-
125 g śmietanka 30% (kremówka, w temperaturze pokojowej)
Abroad: USA i Kanada: whipping cream albo heavy cream; Wielka Brytania: whipping cream; Niemcy: Schlagsahne - 20 g mąka pszenna (pełna łyżka, tortowa albo uniwersalna)
-
35 g koperek (pół pęczka, posiekany)
Abroad: fresh dill; Niemcy: Dill - sok z cytryny (do smaku, niekoniecznie)
- sól i pieprz (do smaku)
Do podania
- ziemniaki z wody, ryż albo kasza gryczana
- ogórki kiszone albo małosolne
Method, step by step
-
If you have meat in a piece, grind it with medium holes. Soak the bread roll for a few minutes in water, milk, or broth, so that it doesn't remain dry inside. Then squeeze it out thoroughly: press it in your hands several times until no liquid escapes between your fingers.
-
Pour the broth into a medium but wide pot so that the meatballs can fit next to each other in a single layer. Add the carrot sliced thinly and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the broth just shimmers, and cook for about 10 minutes until the carrot starts to soften.
-
In a bowl, combine the meat, squeezed bread, egg, salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of chopped dill. Knead the mixture with your hands for at least 5 minutes until it is completely uniform. Shape a test ball: if it holds its shape and doesn't fall apart, don't add anything else; if it falls apart, mix in a tablespoon of breadcrumbs.
-
Wet your hands with water (Lidl's kitchen lightly oils them, while old cookbooks advised dipping them in flour) and form balls the size of a walnut, about 50 g each. This amount yields about 14 meatballs.
-
Carefully place the balls, one by one, into the shimmering broth and arrange them next to each other. At first, do not stir or mix them, as they are very delicate when raw. Slightly increase the heat so that the broth starts to simmer again, but do not let it boil.
-
Cook the meatballs uncovered over low heat for 15-20 minutes. After this time, take one out and cut it in half: it should not be pink inside. The meatballs do not need to be fried or coated in flour beforehand; they will not fall apart if the broth just shimmers and you handle them gently.
-
In a small bowl, mix the cream with the flour very thoroughly until no lumps remain. Room temperature cream combines with flour much easier than cold cream from the fridge. The mixture will be thick, so pour in a few tablespoons of hot broth from the pot and mix again.
-
Pour the tempered cream into the pot and very gently stir to avoid breaking the meatballs. Add the chopped dill and bring to a boil: after a moment, the sauce will thicken slightly. Taste and season with salt, pepper, and if you like a more pronounced flavor, a spoonful of lemon juice.
-
Serve immediately, with plenty of sauce, with boiled potatoes, rice, or buckwheat groats. Accompany with pickled cucumbers or lightly salted cucumbers, or possibly carrot salad.
Photos
