Monday
Meatballs
By Chef Nate Appleman,
A16, San Francisco, CA
Ingredients:
10 oz. Beef Chuck, (cut into 1-inch cubes and ground in
a meat grinder, or finely chopped in a food processor)
10 oz. Boneless Pork Shoulder, (cut into 1-inch cubes
and ground in a meat grinder or finely chopped in a food
processor)
6 oz.s Day Old Country Bread, (torn into chunks and ground
in a meat grinder or finely chopped in a food processor)
2 oz. Pork Fat, (cut into 1-inch cubes and ground in a
meat grinder or chilled in the freezer for 15 minutes
and then finely chopped in a food processor)
2 oz. Prosciutto (cut into 1 inch cubes and ground in
a meat grinder or chilled in the freezer for 15 minutes
and then finely chopped in a food processor)
1 cup Parsley Leaves, (loosely packed fresh flat leaf
, coarsely chopped)
1 tbls. plus 2 tspn. Kosher Salt
2 tspn. Dried Oregano
1.5 tspn. of Fennel Seeds
1 tspn. Dried Chile Flakes
2/3 cup Fresh Ricotta, (drained if necessary (see p.76)
3 Eggs (lightly beaten)
1/4 cup Whole Milk
1 (28 oz.) San Marzano Tomatoes (with juices)
Handful of Fresh Basil Leaves
Block of Grana (for gratin
ExtraVirgin Olive Oil (finishing)
Procedure:
1. In a
large bowl, combine the pork, beef, bread, pork fat, prosciutto,
parsley, 1TLBS of the salt, oregano, fennel seeds, and
chile flakes and mix with your hands just until all of
the ingredients are evenly distributed. Set aside.
2. In a
separate bowl, whisk together the ricotta, eggs and milk,
just enough to break up any large curds of ricotta. Add
the ricotta mixture to the ground meat mixture and mix
lightly with your hands just until incorporated.
3. The mixture
should feel wet and tacky. Pinch off a small nugget of
the mixture. Flatten it into a disk, and cook it in a
small sauté pan. Taste it and adjust the seasoning
of the mixture with salt if needed. Form the mixture into
1 1/2 inch balls each weighing about 2 ounces, and place
on the prepared baking sheets. You should have about 30
meatballs.
4.
Bake, rotating the sheets once from front to back, for
15 minutes to 20 min. or until the meatballs are browned.
Remove from the oven and lower the oven temp to 300 degrees.
5. Sprinkle
the tomatoes with the remaining 2 tsp salt, and then pass
the tomatoes and their juices through a food mill fitted
with the medium plate. Alternatively, put the entire can
of tomatoes in a large bowl, don an apron, and then queeze
the tomatoes into small pieces with your hands.
6. Pack
the meatballs into 1 large roasting pan or 2 smaller roasting
pans. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatballs, cover
tightly with aluminum foil, and braise for 1 to 1 1/2
hours, or until the meatballs are tender and have absorbed
some of the tomato sauce.
7.
Pull the pans out of the oven and uncover. Distribute
the basil leaves throughout the sauce.
8.
For each serving, ladle meatballs with some of the sauce
into a warmed bowl. Grate grana over the top, drizzle
with olive oil to finish, and serve immediately.
More
Nate Appleman Recipes
Braised
Halibut with Pistachios, Preserved Meyer Lemon, and Capers
Monday
Meatballs
Roasted
Sardines* with Bread Crumbs, Green Garlic and Mint
Book
Review:
A16:
Food + Wine
Reprinted
with permission from A16: Food + Wine by Nate
Appleman and Shelley Lindgren, Copyright © 2008.
Published
by Ten Speed Press.
Photo
credit: Ed Anderson © 2008
Link
to Amazon.com to buy this book, A16
(click
here)
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