I'm slacking at the moment. Almost a week since my last blog post. I've been gadding about all over the place, eating on the hoof, sometimes in restaurants, sometimes not. Cooking hasn't had much of a look in with one notable exception, a batch of delicious pork meatballs. They were porky and herby and cheesy and lovely, so I thought I'd write about them.
The ingredients are flexible depending on what you have to hand. The herbs in particular could be altered (rosemary might be nice) as could the cheese. Whatever you do don't miss out the bread though, as it really lightens the balls, making them a lot less dense than they would be otherwise.
They are best fried in a little olive oil until they have a lovely savoury brown crust and juicy innards. When they're done toss with pasta and a tomato based sauce. I did them two different ways using egg tagliatelle. The first was a very fresh, zesty sauce of fresh tomatoes, parsley and lemon. The second a deeper, sweeter affair made from roasted peppers and tinned tomatoes. Both were good.
What you'll need (serves around 6)
750g pork mince
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
a handful of flat parsley, chopped
about 1 dessertspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 slice or crust of old white bread, grated or blitzed in a food processor into crumbs
1 heaped tablespoon parmesan, freshly grated
salt and pepper
Pasta and a tomatoey sauce to serve
What to do
Mix all of the meatball ingredients together in a big bowl. Use your hands or a fork and a big spoon.
Season generously with salt and pepper. At this point I fry a little test patty to taste and check the seasoning. Adjust if necessary.
Roll out the mix into little balls about an inch across. You should get at least forty. Set them aside until you're ready to cook. They freeze well or will be fine in the fridge for a couple of days.
Fry your balls until they're lovely and crusty and brown on the outside and succulent within. Toss with cooked pasta and your sauce of choice, then serve immediately with extra parmesan.
The ingredients are flexible depending on what you have to hand. The herbs in particular could be altered (rosemary might be nice) as could the cheese. Whatever you do don't miss out the bread though, as it really lightens the balls, making them a lot less dense than they would be otherwise.
They are best fried in a little olive oil until they have a lovely savoury brown crust and juicy innards. When they're done toss with pasta and a tomato based sauce. I did them two different ways using egg tagliatelle. The first was a very fresh, zesty sauce of fresh tomatoes, parsley and lemon. The second a deeper, sweeter affair made from roasted peppers and tinned tomatoes. Both were good.
What you'll need (serves around 6)
750g pork mince
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
a handful of flat parsley, chopped
about 1 dessertspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 slice or crust of old white bread, grated or blitzed in a food processor into crumbs
1 heaped tablespoon parmesan, freshly grated
salt and pepper
Pasta and a tomatoey sauce to serve
What to do
Mix all of the meatball ingredients together in a big bowl. Use your hands or a fork and a big spoon.
Season generously with salt and pepper. At this point I fry a little test patty to taste and check the seasoning. Adjust if necessary.
Roll out the mix into little balls about an inch across. You should get at least forty. Set them aside until you're ready to cook. They freeze well or will be fine in the fridge for a couple of days.
Fry your balls until they're lovely and crusty and brown on the outside and succulent within. Toss with cooked pasta and your sauce of choice, then serve immediately with extra parmesan.
I think you were trying for a "Fnar!" comment :).
ReplyDeleteMind, nice looking balls.
Sorry, I did say I wanted to sign in to my Google account, but it went and posted as Anonymous.
ReplyDelete