Tomato cream sauce with Parmesan balls

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 small egg(s), beaten
• 120 g Parmesan, grated, preferably coarsely grated
• 1 large onion(s), chopped
• 1 clove(s) garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 bottle of tomatoes, pureed, approx. 7-8 dl
• 2 dl vegetable broth
• a little red wine to deglaze
• a little olive oil
• 2 dl cream (half cream, liquid cream)
• salt and pepper
• 200 g chicken breast fillet(s) in pieces (can also be omitted)
• 500 g pasta (penne, fusilli or orecchiette)

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

vegetarian or with chicken

Briefly sauté the onions and garlic in a little olive oil, briefly sauté the tomato paste, and deglaze with red wine. Add the vegetable stock and passata, season well with salt and pepper, and simmer the sauce, covered, for about 20-30 minutes on low heat. (You can, of course, also make your own tomato sauce as a base; just make sure it doesn’t contain any large tomatoes or chunks of vegetables.) Once the sauce is cooked and seasoned to your taste, add the cream and bring back to a boil. While the tomato sauce is simmering, prepare the Parmesan balls: Mix the egg and Parmesan until a fairly dry dough forms. It shouldn’t be too soft or runny, so it’s best to add the egg to the Parmesan a little at a time. Then, using your hands, shape the dough into small, compact balls, 1-2 cm in diameter, depending on your taste. Refrigerate the balls if the tomato sauce isn’t ready yet. When the tomato sauce is ready, add the Parmesan balls to the boiling sauce and immediately remove the pot from the heat, stir gently briefly, and cover. The Parmesan balls should now simmer for about 15-20 minutes, during which time you can cook the pasta. When the pasta is ready, stir the sauce briefly again and bring back to a boil – done. Keeping the Parmesan balls from falling apart is a bit of an art, but it’s doable: Just cook them for a long time and don’t stir too vigorously, and it’ll work.