One for All and All for Balls!
I made meatballs recently. Nicely flavoured meatballs, sautéed in a little olive oil, then simmered in a Napoletana sauce, made with the deglazings. Well-cooked capellini, meatballs on top, with the Napoletana sauce over the lot. Flaked Parmesan and about a handful of fresh back pepper overall and that’s your lot. Just the thing the tired little Possum-Bride needed, coming home after a ridiculously hard day at work.
Of course, spaghetti, capellini, or vermicelli with Napoletana sauce and meatballs is one of those ‘classic’ Italian dishes, which we all know. Oddly enough, the dish is really more Italian-American than Italian. In classic Italian cuisine, long, round pasta is never paired with meat-based ragout. They tend to use fettuccine or tagliatelle. And meatballs are really a Sicilian thing; not much known in the rest of Italy. They would seem to be transplanted kofta, a product of the Arab influence in Sicily. By the by, in the Sicilian dialect, meatballs are called badduzzi. But they’re not usually put on pasta. They tend to be served with tomato sauce or agrodolce (Italian sweet and sour sauce), as a meat course.
Also, the word ‘balls’ is just naturally humorous. The fun you can have! Try these hilarious lines at home, with family and friends;
“More balls, Reverend?”
“Oh Bandicoot, I love your balls!”
“You know what I have a hankering for? Balls.”
Think of your own variations! Practice them around the dinner table! Hilarity will ensue!
Anyhoo. Let’s get to some serious recipe sharing! This is my recipe for…
Meatballs in Napoletana Sauce
Ingredients.
* 200g free-range beef mince, 200g free-range pork mince, 2 free-range salsiccia al finocchio.
* Salt, pepper, ground oregano, dried mixed herbs, pimentón, ground cumin, dry breadcrumbs, 1 tsp grated lemon zest
* Olive oil
* 12 garlic cloves, 2 onions, ½ bunch fresh thyme
* Red or white wine, 400g tin tomatoes, MSG, chicken stock, tomato paste
First comes the balls! Cut the sausages open and scrape the meat out of the casings. Combine the sausage meat with both kinds of mince, a handful of the breadcrumbs, some salt and pepper, a little ground oregano, a little mixed herbs, a big pinch of pimentón, a little cumin and the lemon zest. Mix this mixture together very well, using your hands. Use a measuring tablespoon to measure out one-tablespoon portions of meat mixture. Shape this mixture into little balls and fry them in a little olive oil until they are browned on all sides. Set the balls aside.
Peel the onions and garlic. Crush the garlic and dice the onions pretty finely. Put the onion and garlic aside in a small bowl. Strip the thyme leaves off the sprigs and put the thyme leaves aside in their own bowl.
Fry the onions and garlic in the same pan as you cooked the balls, until the onion look transparent. Add a big pinch of mixed herbs, a big pinch of pimentón, a little cumin and some salt and pepper. Fry this mixture, stirring it around as it cooks, for about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, put the tinned tomato in a plastic jug. Add a good cup or so of the wine and the same of the stock, a tablespoon or two of tomato paste and about teaspoon of MSG, and liquidise the mixture with a mixing wand. Pour this liquid in with the onion and garlic mixture, stir it very well and leave it to simmer for about fifteen minutes.
Add the fried meatballs to the sauce and simmer it for another twenty minutes. Adjust the seasonings.
Serves four people.
The breadcrumbs are not an example of me being cheap, they’re there to improve the texture. Meatballs made with all meat are very tough and springy. The crumbs make them soft. More or less breadcrumbs will make the meatballs softer or firmer.
By the by, if you want to make proper Sicilian badduzzi, add a small handful of chopped sultanas or raisins to the meat mixture, along with some finely diced Pecorino Romano and serve it coated in agrodolce And also! The simmering of the meatballs in tomato sauce is a very Sicilian thing; they do it with roast meat too. It’s very important to the overall flavour of the sauce.
