ROSA'S POLPETTE

What a nice surprise I had at lunchtime today when Rosa [who cleans my flat, organises me and looks after me like a sister] arrived with a dish of these delicious polpette. Of course I had to sit her down and get her to tell me the recipe and she has given me permission to share it here. It's a kind of Italo-Albanian recipe and Rosa, like many cooks I know, doesn't give precise quantities, so we can all have fun working them out for ourselves!

8 oz [about] finely minced veal or beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 or 2 red peppers, chopped
a little rice [no need to parboil first]
pane grattuggiato [fine breadcrumbs]
2 eggs
some homemade tomato sauce
salt and black pepper

Mix everything together well. Form into ball shapes. Put them in a frying pan with about 4 tablesp olive oil and fry till they take on a good colour. Put them all in an ovenproof dish with water to just cover and cook at 200 C. "How long for?" I asked. "Oh, you'll have to test them every now and then and when you judge the rice to be ready, they're done", said Rosa. If you like, sprinkle a little lemon juice over the polpette to serve.