Description
Transport yourself to the sun-soaked landscapes of Tuscany with this authentic meatball recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 lb 450 g beef and veal ground (alternatively, only beef ground)
- 1/2 lb 230 g fresh spinach (alternatively, frozen spinach)
- 1 lb 450 g tomato pulp (or tomato sauce)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 shallots
- 10 basil leaves
- 2 eggs
- 2.5 oz 70 g Tuscan bread
- 2 oz 55 g ricotta cheese
- 2 oz 55 g Tuscan pecorino, grated
- 1.5 cups 350 ml milk
- 2 cups 250 g all-purpose flour
- 1 Qt 1 liter vegetable oil (best if sesame oil)
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- to taste black pepper
- to taste table salt
Instructions
- FIRST STEPS: First of all, chop the Tuscan bread, pour it into a bowl, and soak with milk until totally softened.
- Now, rinse the fresh spinach thoroughly, and boil or steam them 5 minutes.
- After that, rinse the spinach with cold water, squeeze, and mince.
- Store the spinach in a bowl until used.
- STIR-FRY SPINACH: Peel and chop the shallots. Then, saute them along with 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil until soft and translucent.
- At this point, add the minced spinach and stir-fry a few of minutes: you want them juicy but not watery.
- TUSCAN MEATBALL MIXTURE: Squeeze the bread accurately and pour it into a big bowl along with the stir-fried spinach.
- After that, add the grated Tuscan Pecorino, the ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, the ground meat, 1 pinch of nutmeg, and a generous sprinkle of black pepper.
- Salt to taste and knead the mixture until all the ingredients are well mixed.
- Finally, wrap and store in the fridge at least 1 hour, and up to 1 day.
- TOMATOES SAUCE: Now, prepare the tomato sauce.
- First, peel and crush the garlic. Then, pour the garlic in a saucepan along with 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil. Saute the garlic over medium heat until pale golden, then add the tomato pulp.
- Cook gently 30 minutes, and eventually salt to taste.
- SHAPING AND FRYING “POLPETTE”!: At this point, take the mixture from the fridge and shape it into “polpette” (that means meatballs in Italian) from 1oz to 3 oz, depending on your taste: I like them a little bigger than a ping-pong ball! Eventually, flour the “polpette” and shake them very gently to discard the flour in excess.
- After that, pour the vegetable oil into a deep saucepan and heat until it reaches 340° F (170° C). Deep-fry the meatballs, two or three at a time, a couple of minutes, until pale golden. This step is critical: handle the meatballs with care!
- Finally, place the fried “polpette” over kitchen towels to drain the oil.
- SPINACH MEATBALLS INTO THE SAUCE: Pour the tomato sauce into a big pan along with 10 hand-broken basil leaves. After that, place the meatballs gently into the sauce and cook over gently flame 1 hour, flipping them every 15 minutes. Finally, rest 20 minutes before serving, or serve warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
CHOOSING THE MEAT – In this recipe, I love to mix veal and beef ground, but the meatballs will come greatly also with just beef meat.
FROZEN SPINACH – If they are available, you want to choose fresh spinach. But, if frozen spinach is your only option, put them into a saucepan along with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt, then heat over low/medium flame until properly thaw. After that raise and saute the vegetables along with the shallots, as described in the next steps.
PREPARING THE MEATBALLS IN ADVANCE – Even if the meatballs are delicious just cooked, they give their best the day after, gently re-heated!
SERVING TEMPERATURE – the Tuscan meatballs can be served either hot, or warm, or at room temperature, depending on your taste.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Rest: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: italian