A Sienese meatball 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. These Sienese meatballs are also a tasty way of dealing with boiled meat, one of the byproducts of making broth.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Potatoes (see below for amounts)
- Boiled meat
- Parsley, onion, carrot, and prsociutto
- Eggs
Preparation:
Begin by boiling or steaming about a pound of peeled potatoes; mash them when they have cooled. Grind 3/4 pound of lean boiled meat. Mince together a small bunch of parsley (1/4 cup or so), a half a small onion, an equal volume of carrot, and two fine slices of prosciutto. Combine the minced ingredients with the ground meat and the potatoes, and work three eggs, plus one or two whites if you have them, and 2 heaping tablespoons of flour into the mixture. Make meatballs an inch in diameter from the mixture, roll them in abundant bread crumbs, and pan fry them in hot oil, turning them frequently so they brown on all sides as they cook; once they're done put them on absorbent paper to drain.
The meatballs can be served hot as is, dusted with minced parsley. However, they're at their best with fresh peas.
Mince 2 thin slices of pancetta (about an ounce) and a clove of garlic, and sauté the mixture in a pot. When the garlic is lightly browned stir in 3/4 pound of freshly shelled peas, about a half cup of boiling water, and several tablespoons tomato sauce. Simmer the peas until done, adding more liquid if necessary, and shred a couple of leaves of basil into them when you remove them from the fire. You can either serve the meatballs and peas separately, or you can stir the meatballs into the peas and transfer everything to a serving platter.
The wine? A light zesty red, for example a Chianti d'annata (the current vintage), or perhaps a robust white, for example a Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
The meatballs can be served hot as is, dusted with minced parsley. However, they're at their best with fresh peas.
Mince 2 thin slices of pancetta (about an ounce) and a clove of garlic, and sauté the mixture in a pot. When the garlic is lightly browned stir in 3/4 pound of freshly shelled peas, about a half cup of boiling water, and several tablespoons tomato sauce. Simmer the peas until done, adding more liquid if necessary, and shred a couple of leaves of basil into them when you remove them from the fire. You can either serve the meatballs and peas separately, or you can stir the meatballs into the peas and transfer everything to a serving platter.
The wine? A light zesty red, for example a Chianti d'annata (the current vintage), or perhaps a robust white, for example a Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
