Tuscan meatballs – Polpette toscane
This is an old recipe for meatballs when people couldn’t afford to buy meat that often and turned frugality into an art. Meat in fact was mainly eaten on Sunday and Monday was usually the day for meatballs using the leftovers from the previous day. If the meat wasn’t enough boiled potatoes were added to the mixture and if possible meatballs were also enriched with mortadella or ham (prosciutto cotto), a real delight. I sincerely prefer this kind to the usual meatballs as they’re tastier. These meatballs vary depending on the ingredients you’re using so it’s always something new and different. I love to make these meatballs using leftovers from Thanksgiving Dinner, a different idea from the usual turkey sandwiches.
Ingredients:
11 oz. leftover meat (roast meat, chicken, turkey etc.)
1 small dry bread roll equivalent to 2 slices of dry bread without the crust soaked in 1/2 cup milk or water
2 small garlic cloves minced
2 small potatoes about 7 oz.
1/3 cup fresh grated Italian parmesan
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 medium eggs
1 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
olive oil to fry
Instructions:
1. Boil the potatoes with the skin on in salted water. When ready peal them and set them aside.
2. On a cutting board dice the meat into tiny pieces using a Mezzaluna
3. In a bowl combine the meat with the potatoes previously mashed, the parsley, the garlic, the salt, the bread squeezed from the milk, the Parmesan and lastly the eggs.
4. Take a heaping tablespoon of the meat at a time and roll it into a ball and then flatten it down a bit. Continue until the meat is finished, approximately 20 meatballs. Coat the meatballs with the bread crumbs.
5. Heat a 1/2 inch olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Cook the meatballs on both sides a few at a time until golden brown.
6. Remove the meatballs and set them on paper towel to absorb the excess oil, sprinkle them with salt and serve.
Notes:
These meatballs really define the “cucina povera” which wastes nothing. Try them!
sounds good…I definitely relate to the effort to waste nothing these days…good news is things like this can be quite tasty!