Though you can find pasta with meatballs in Italy, especially in the south, they're more common as a second course dish in many parts of the country, and often follow a festive meal -- a tasty way of using up the leftovers, in short.
Once you have shaped a meatloaf, there are a number of options. The most common is probably to put it in the oven, but Neapolitans also fry meatloaves, and a Neapolitan fried meatloaf offers a pleasant change of pace from the more standard baked meatloaf. So, for that matter, does a Neapolitan fried meatloaf recooked in tomato sauce or onion sauce.
Those who don't live in Italy often associate Italian meatballs with spaghetti. Though I have come across spaghetti with meatballs a couple of times in Italy, here meatballs are generally a second course, served with a vegetable. They're good, and a great way to rework leftovers; though this recipe calls for veal it will also work with leftover roast leftover roast chicken, turkey, beef, and even arista (roast pork loin).
A quick presentation of meatballs, baked, and the classic Italian presentation: As a second course (no pasta), with a glass of wine. Of course, if you want spaghetti with meatballs, these will be good there too.
Ground Veal Pizza, or Pizza di Tritato: Pizza is usually made with bread dough, but what else could one call a disk of ground veal seasoned with tomatoes, oregano, and capers? Tasty, perhaps, but that's an adjective.
Sicilian Grilled Meatballs, or Polpettine alla Griglia: One usually thinks of meatballs going into a sauce of some kind, or being fried to golden perfection. However, Sicilians also grill them, and very fine eating it is, too.
Fried Meat Balls, or Polpette di carne Fritta: This recipe is from the Osteria della Villetta, in Palazzolo (Brescia), and is an excellent way to deal with leftover beef from making broth.
Sicilian Grilled Meatballs, or Polpettine alla Griglia: Meatballs are a universal dish, but are more concentrated in some areas than others. In Italy, for example, they're more common in the south than the north. This is a delicious Sicilian specialty.
Meatballs for Cuscussù, or Moksci: Though many people associate cuscus with Arab cooking, it also plays a part in Italian Jewish cooking, because it was brought by the Sephardim who fled to italy following the establishment of the Inquisition in Spain in the 1490s. These meatballs are a traditional accomapniment to cuscus, and will also be peasant tidbit, for example in a fritto misto.
Joey Pots And Pans Famous Meatball Recipe: An excellent meatball recipe that's the perfect addition to a marinara sauce.
Spaghetti with meatballs are comparatively rare in Italy (I've been served them once, in Puglia, but have never encountered them elsewhere), but this doean't mean that meatballs are uncommon. Quite the contrary, they're a popular second course dish and an ideal way of dealing with the boiled meat left over from making broth. Here they gain grace from cheese, and should serve about 6.
Several people have written in reply to the question about raisins in polpette: Roger says, "My mother always made meat balls with raisins and pignolia nuts. As I remember they were delicious. No one that I asked ever heard of such a thing. Both my parents were from the beautiful hill town of Montemiletto, Avellino, Campania." Rosalie says... And here is a Neapolitan recipe for meatballs with raisins and pine nuts, served in a quick tomato sauce.
This is a North Italian Jewish recipe; Mira Sacerdoti suggests it be served at Passover, observing, "given the time necessary to prepare this and its splendid appearance, it is a classic holiday dish."
Though this might sound somewhat unlikely, it is quite traditional. The recipe is Calabrian, and the Italian I worked from doesn't give measurements, so feel free to adjust quantities to suit your taste.
Like all parts of Italy, Sicily has a variety of meatball recipes. Pino Correnti introduces the subject, in his Il Libro D'Oro della Cucina e dei Vini di Sicilia, with Baduzzi a Broru -- Meatballs in Broth.
A Sienese recipe, this is true home cooking of the sort one would enjoy in a family meal, but probably wouldn't serve dinner guests unless they were also close friends. It's also a tasty way of dealing with boiled meat, one of the byproducts of making broth.
Though you might not consider meatloaf Italian, this is a classic Florentine dish.
Here's a recipe from Pellegrino Artusi's Scienza in Cucina e l'Arte di Mangiar Bene that didn't make it into my translation of his book (the Art of Eating Well, Random House) for want of space:
This dish is derived from a cookbook printed in 1694. It will no doubt seem strange to you, and just the mention of tripe might make you fear to try it; however, despite its trifling nature, its seasonings make it tasty and keep it from being a burden on the stomach.
Here's a recipe from Artusi that didn't make it into my translation of his book for want of space. The raw meat he calls for is as opposed to leftover roasted or boiled meat; in the days before refrigeration (he was writing in 1890) it was common practice to grind up leftover meat and make meatballs or meatloaf with it before it spoiled. This, made with raw meat, is a little more elegant, and could have been served to a family friend as well -- in other words, a guest one didn't need to impress.
These are the meatballs Elisabetta learned to make from her mother, which we whip up when we're too tired or too busy to put together something more elaborate.
I recently received a request for Sicilian meatballs stuffed with hard-boiled eggs, from a reader who says they were very good, but she didn't learn how to make them before the relative who knew how passed on. Finding them has proven more difficult than I expected, but Pino Correnti does give a recipe in his delightful book, Il Grande Libro d'Oro della Cucina e dei Vini di Sicilia.
Classic Italian Jewish cooking from Pellegrino Artusi: Cuscus, with beef balls and broth.
A Jewish recipe from Livorno, served with vegetables, and meatballs with beans.
Simple meat patties -- floured, fried and served with a Marsala sauce -- and a variation on them with heart.
Artichokes stuffed with tasty veal and beef-based fillings.
