POLPETTE DI CARNE

Meatballs are everyone's favorite, young and old!

Following is how I learned to make them form my wonderful grandmother Leonilde.

Coming home from school to her pasta and meatballs is without doubt my fondest childhood memory!



INGREDIENTS for about 20 /22 meatballs:

About 2.2lbs of meat (2/3 beef + 1/3 pork or 1/2 beef + 1/2 pork, depending on personal preference)
4 eggs
about 4 cups of soft - not crusty - bread, soaked in milk
about 2 cups of grated Parmigiano cheese (or 1/2 Parmigiano and 1/2 Pecorino, for added flavor)
about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
about 1 tsp of sea salt
1 minced clove of garlic
some fresh chopped parsley
a pinch of nutmeg
a dash of pepper
vegetable oil for frying

Start by soaking the bread in milk for a few minutes. Then, squeeze the bread in your hands to get rid of excess milk.
In a bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well together. If the mix is too "lose", add more bread crumbs.
Make meatballs.
Heat up vegetable oil in a frying pan - enough oil so that half of each meatball is submerged.
Fry the meatballs on medium - high heat, about 6 minutes on each side. Drain them on absorbent paper.


INGREDIENTS for the sauce:

1 small onion thinly sliced
EVOO
3  28 oz cans of whole tomatoes
Salt

Start by crushing the tomatoes in a blender at the lowest speed for just a few seconds, until the tomatoes are barely crushed.
Sauté the onion in EVOO - enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan - for a few minutes until  it becomes translucent. (A tall pan works best).
Add the crushed tomatoes and salt to taste.
Bring to a gentle boil for about ten minutes. Add the meatballs and let simmer for about one hour.

Use the sauce to top your favorite pasta (not egg pasta, though), cooked al dente!

PASTA E FAGIOLI

Fall and Winter call for soups or more soupy pasta dishes, like Pasta e Fagioli (pasta with beans).
It is an example of what we call Cucina Povera or peasant dishes due to its low cost but good nutritional value.

INGREDIENTS FOR FOUR PEOPLE:

1 chopped celery stalk
1 medium size chopped carrot
1 clove of garlic
1 small diced onion
Some diced prosciutto for extra flavor - optional
EVOO
About 3 1/2 quarts of vegetable stock
Black pepper
Some fresh, minced rosemary
400 gr of pinto beans (you can substitute with canned beans)
250 gr of tomato puree


Sauté the garlic in some olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of a tall pasta pan). Once it becomes golden, remove it and add the chopped onion, carrot and celery. Add a ladle of stock and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the diced prosciutto and cook for a few more minutes. Add another ladle of stock and the tomato puree. Flavor with salt and pepper. Add the cooked beans with a bit of their cooking water (if using canned beans, drain them first). Now add the remaining stock and simmer for about ten minutes. With an immersion blender, partially blend 1/3 of the beans, to give the pasta a creamier consistency. Cook the pasta in the same pot according to pasta directions. Add salt to taste.
Add some hot water if you feel you are running out of liquid.
Once done, remove from heat and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with freshly grated parmigiano cheese and some finely minced rosemary.

TORTA AL CACAO

Simple  Chocolate Cake

A quick and easy recipe for a cake that you can eat plain or decorate with frosting as you wish.

250 gr flour

3 eggs

200 gr sugar

50 gr of dutch processed cocoa

100 gr of melted butter

1/2 glass of  milk

19 gr of baking powder

Start by whipping the eggs with the sugar. Add the melted butter (after it has cooled down), then the flour, cocoa and milk. Mix for five minutes. Add the baking powder and mix for ten more minutes. Bake at 350 F  for about 40 minutes in a previously buttered and floured cake pan.

ZEPPOLE DI PATATE

Zeppole - a type of fried donuts, with a potato based dough -  are traditionally made and eaten during the Christmas Holidays in the region of Campania. It would not be Christmas without them!


INGREDIENTS for about 60 zeppole:

1 Kg of yukon gold potatoes
about 1kg of all purpose flour
4  large eggs + 1 egg yolk
250 ml of warm milk
200 gr sugar
5 tsp dry yeast
the lemon zest of one organic lemon
1 tsp of vanilla
120 gr butter
a pinch of salt
about 6 cups of Wesson vegetable oil
a mix of about 3 cups of sugar and 2 TBS of cinnamon (or more according to your preferences)



Rinse well the potatoes and boil them - skin on. Once they are boiled, mash them using a potato ricer.
Allow the yeast to dissolve in the warm milk for a few minutes.
Create the dough by mixing all the ingredients together by hand, adding the flour a little at the time.
You may need more or less than 1kg of flour, depending on the consistency of your potatoes. The dough should be soft and not sticky on the outside.

Cover the dough with a cloth. Flour a few baking sheets.
Remove a chunk of the dough from the original piece. Dust your working surface with flour, roll out the dough in strips about 18cm long (about 7 inches). Cross the two ends on top of each other to form a donut, so that you have two "tails" on each side. Place on floured baking sheets. Cover each baking sheet with a clean cloth and let the zeppole rest and rise for about 45 minutes to one hour in a non drafty warm room (not in the oven).

Pour vegetable oil in a tall pan. Heat up on medium high heatzeppole that you can fry at the same time will depend on the size of your pan. However, be careful not to overcrowd it. I can fry about 4 at the time. After frying the first ones, you will realize if you need to adjust the temperature. They need to be golden - not dark brown or they will burn - and will need to be turned on both sides while frying.
. When hot, start frying. The number of
Drain them on paper towel and while still warm, dip them in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Place on a serving platter.

Zeppole are best when still warm or eaten within the same day. Their consistency will change with time, and they will become harder and stale as time goes by.