Purpetti e brascioli – or ‘meatballs and chops’ in Apulian dialect – is one of the typical dishes of the regional culinary tradition. It sets the tables with cheer, fills it with flavor and makes Sunday with family and friends into pure magic.
As a typical recipe of peasant tradition, this dish is made with simple ingredients and cooking methods that we can all manage! But one of the necessary ingredients for purpetti e brascioli (according to the Apulian tradition) is horse meat, with its strong flavor that enhances the dish to perfection.
Our recipe for traditional purpetti e brascioli
Here’s how the age-old recipe for purpetti e brascioli is made.
Ingredients
For the chops:
8 slices of bresaola
5 oz grated pecorino cheese
Parsley
Garlic
Salt and pepper
For the meatballs:
13 oz minced meat
2 eggs
7 oz grated pecorino cheese
Breadcrumbs
Extra-virgin olive oil
Parsley
Garlic
Salt and pepper
For the tomato sauce:
1 US quart tomato purée
1 onion
Red wine
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
How to make purpetti e brascioli
Start with the meatballs. In a large container, knead the minced meat with the eggs, pecorino cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic (optional), chopped parsley, salt and pepper, mixing until smooth and combined. Then prepare the meatballs with a diameter of about 4 cm. Fry them in plenty of olive oil (or seed oil).
Then prepare the chops. Mix the pecorino cheese, garlic and chopped parsley together, adding salt and pepper to taste. Place the horse meat slices on a cutting board and stuff them with the filling you’ve just made. Close the slices of meat onto themselves and stick with toothpicks. Brown them in a very large frying pan with oil and onion. Add a glass of red wine and cook until evaporated. Once the wine has reduced, add the tomato purée in slowly. Then cook over low heat covered for about 2 hours. When you have about 15 minutes’ cooking left, add the meatballs to the pan. Cook everything together for another 15 minutes and serve.