Grandma's Meatballs

When my family gets together it means many things; laughter, dancing in the kitchen, good wine and lots of cooking and eating. And the one thing we always cook together is a big batch of my grandma's meatballs.

If she wasn't doing the chopping, mixing and cooking herself, she would be the chef, guiding us along and making sure we never over mixed! Since she passed away, making her meatballs keeps her memory alive and is always one of the highlights of our time together. They're full of fresh parsley, garlic and Parmesan, and even though the first ones out of the pan are scalding hot, we will happily burn our tongues eating a few because they're simply irresistible. And by the time the entire batch has been cooked and the pasta and sauce are ready to serve, we've usually eaten so many that we just want to go pass out in a meatball induced coma, but we somehow always find room for just one more. Overeating is inevitable, but we know that when the first meatball goes in the pan.

The family meatball recipe and tradition has passed from my great grandmother, who moved to the United States from Calabria in 1915, then on to my grandma, then to my dad and uncle, and on to me, my siblings and cousins, and now to my nieces and nephews, the oldest of which has become the official meatball and sauce maker at his fire station in California.



Over the years my dad has fiddled a bit with my grandma's recipe and will patiently spend hours slowly cooking his batches on the stove. They are divine! I've been somewhat successful replicating both his recipe and the exact one that my grandma dictated to me many years ago in her kitchen in Walla Walla, but have adapted mine to the ingredients I can find in France. For instance, both of their recipes call for Progresso breadcrumbs and curly leaf parsley. I use chapelure and flat leaf parsley. My dad uses less Parmesan than I do and 100% ground pork. I like more cheese and use a mix of pork and veal. Also, he fries his, which I sometimes do, if I have the time. 

A few years ago, after a friend in New Orleans told me that she always bakes her meatballs, I decided to give the baking thing a try. The results were ok, but not brilliant. I missed the beautiful, golden crust and soft interior that I got with my grandma's and dad's recipes, so I went back to frying. Then a couple of months ago I was at our neighborhood butcher and I spotted la farce for sale. I asked what is consisted of and when he told me it was half veal and half pork, I decided to try it for some meatballs.



It took me a few attempts to get them just right. The first time they were fabulous, the second time they came out dry and disappointing and the third time was a charm!
 They still require a bit of care. You can't just throw them in the oven for 30 minutes and come back to perfect meatballs. But you're not standing over a stove, patiently turning them for hours either.

Just one caveat: we have a ridiculous oven that only offers broiling, a microwave setting, a combination microwave/convection setting or plain convection, so the temperatures I had to work with are not what a normal oven would have. I've offered temperatures that I think will correspond with a normal oven. If you make these, I would love it if you would let me know how they worked for you!

Grandma's Baked Meatballs

• 1 lb ground pork and veal. I used a 50/50 ratio
• 2 large eggs
• 1 generous cup freshly grated Parmesan. I used a 3 year old wedge which is quite salty, so didn't add extra salt to the mix
• minced garlic to taste. I use 5 large cloves
• minced flat leaf parsley to taste - approx. 1/2 cup
• 1/2 cup fine, dry bread crumbs, moistened with milk - make sure there no lumps and the crumbs are quite wet, almost runny

Preheat the oven to 200° C/400° F. 
Put all of the ingredients except the moistened bread crumbs in a bowl and mix gently with your hands.
Add the moistened bread crumbs and mix again, being careful not to over mix.

Shape into balls, about the size of an egg, and lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 10 minutes then gently turn the meatballs over.
Turn on the broiler to broil for 4 minutes.
Turn off the broiler and lower the heat to 175° C/350° F and bake for a further 10-12 minutes. After 10 minutes at 175° C/350° F, I cut into one and check to see if they are cooked all the way through. If not, add another minute or 2

I'm thrilled with the results because it means we can enjoy pasta, sauce and meatballs for lunch and I don't have to spend the entire morning standing over a stove. And I'm pretty sure that grandma would think they're delicious!






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Italian Comfort Food and My Grandma

Living so far away from family means that you sometimes miss the big stuff - birthdays, new babies, graduations, weddings and funerals. And sometimes you know that you just have to be there.

I spent a good amount of time with my grandma when I was visiting my family in February. She got sick shortly after I left, and after several weeks in and out of the hospital, she passed away on April 15 at the age of 96.
It was a huge shock.
As poorly as she was, I think we all expected her to bounce back, don her blue apron and head back into her kitchen. We all thought we would have more time to spend with her.

At first I debated going to her funeral. A last minute ticket meant that the cost was astronomical and due to a work commitment that I couldn't get out of, it would take me about as long to travel to Spokane as I would actually be able to spend in Spokane.
I went anyway. I knew I would regret it if I didn't.

It was a whirlwind weekend full of tears and laughter and hugs and family I haven't seen in years. And on the day of my departure, my dad got up extra early and started cooking in her honor. He spent several hours that morning making meatballs and marinara sauce, using her recipes. After indulging in a few for breakfast, dipped in sauce and enjoyed with little shards of Parmigiano-Reggiano, I left for the airport with a drippy, well wrapped sandwich stuffed full of garlic and parsley studded meatballs and smothered in sauce.
I sat in the airport in Minneapolis on one of my layovers and thought of her, all I had learned from her and all that she meant to our family, while I savored every single bite.

I know it would have made her smile.




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Tomato and Cream Sauce and a Tribute to Marcella Hazan

"There is no such thing as Italian haute cuisine because there are no high or low roads in Italian cooking. All roads lead to the home, to la cucina di casa - the only one that deserves to be called Italian cooking."  - Marcella Hazan

Big squares of fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli found their way into my shopping basket the other day so when I got home I immediately cracked open Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking to look for the perfect sauce recipe.
Over 650 pages of information, recipes and advice are packed into this wonderful book. It is by far the most trusted Italian cookbook in my entire collection.

The Fundamentals and At Table chapters alone make it an invaluable resource. Need a definition for insaporire? Don't know what Bottarga is? Curious about the different varieties of Radicchio or Ricotta?
Marcella has all the answers.
My copy is about 15 years old. The spine is broken and its pages are splashed and splattered with tomato sauce and red wine. Definitly the signs of a well loved cookbook!

Also, her recipe for Bucatini all'Amatriciana is unparalleled - the most sublime mélange of pancetta, onions, tomatoes and two types of Italian cheese. I make a batch almost every week.

I love Marcella. She has a down to earth style and an unwavering devotion to regional, traditional Italian cuisine. She is truly a classic!

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A Polite Introduction to Jamie Oliver

 

Jamie Oliver.
I remember when his Naked Chef series first hit America. People thought he was so cool, so hip. So very British.

Me, I just couldn't get past his informal, chatty demeanor and those expressions:  Cracking. Lovely jubbly. A glug of olive oil. A knob of butter. A swig of vinegar. Whack it in the oven.  Brill.
Jamie just didn't do it for me.  His cooking style was too imprecise and too unconventional.  I was used to watching the very professional, composed Mario Batali in Molto Mario and the serious Lidia Bastianich in Lidia's Italy. 

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Conchiglie al Salmone e Piselli

Lately, if you were to stop by our house for a glass of wine and a bite to eat, you might wonder where you are. Is this still France? Because the food coming out of my little kitchen certainly doesn't look like French food...

It isn't.
For the last month or so I've been craving all things Italian.

Except for French cheese of course. But that goes without saying.


There has been a crazy amount of frittata, pasta, pizza and risotto cooking going on. Why these four Italian dishes in particular?

• we don't eat a lot of meat and they're delicious when made with fresh vegetables
• they're economical (unless you want to whip up something like this)
• they're easy to make
• they're perfect for using up little leftover bits of this and that

The most recent pasta concoction used up three quarters of a bag of conchiglie pasta, a handful of frozen baby peas, half a package of smoked salmon and a slug of cream.
Oh, and some fresh chèvre. Just a little reminder that we still live in la belle France.


Conchiglie al Salmone e Piselli (e formaggi caprini)
serves 4

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 cup frozen petit pois, defrosted
• 4 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon, chopped into 1/4 - inch pieces
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon whipping cream
• 4 ounces fresh chèvre
• 1 pound conchiglie (or farfalle)
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the butter and olive oil together in a frying pan over medium heat and sautée the shallots until golden.
2. Add the peas and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the smoked salmon, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Turn down the heat to low, stir in the cream and the chèvre, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling, salted water until al dente, according to package directions.
   
6. Drain, reserving some of the pasta cooking water, and add the pasta to the sauce.
7. Stir well over low heat until the sauce has thickened slightly and the pasta is coated. Add a bit of the reserved water if necessary to create a rich, creamy sauce.
   
8. Serve immediately with more freshly ground pepper if necessary.

Related Posts:
A Gutsy Cherry Tomato, Garlic, Arugula and Feta Cheese Pasta Sauce Recipe
Still Eating as Much Asparagus as Possible...
Calzone

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Photo du Jour - Gnocchi

Homemade gnocchi, or cavatelli, as my family calls it. We made a huge batch when we were all together last year and this year we're doing it all over again.

There are four generations cooking together today. My grandma, who turned 92 last week, down to the youngest, my niece, who is 10. We're making pounds and pounds of cavatelli and meatballs and sauce.
There will be a grand feast tonight! Pin It

Panzanella - A Summer Staple

Leftover bread.
Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in it. You wouldn't believe the amount of crumbs I clean off our kitchen counters on a daily basis.

Baguettes, gros pain, campaillettes, ficelles, pain de campagne...

The amazing variety of bread available in the boulangeries in France is a carbophobe's nightmare.
And a bread lover's dream!



So when you are surrounded by all this gorgeous bread you tend to buy it almost every day and occasionally, (unless you have guests or are eating something that just screams out for lots and lots of it) you have leftover, half eaten loaves that becomes stale within hours.

The perfect solution is Panzanella, an incredibly satisfying Italian bread and tomato salad.

I make Panzanella a lot in the summertime. It combines all that I love about summer cooking;

• no oven necessary so there is no "cooking"
  
• uses lots of fresh, local produce
  
• takes almost no time to throw together
• tastes wonderful with a cold glass of rosé

The recipe I've given here is merely a guide. I added some arugula and minced shallots to the most recent batch which blended well with the other ingredients.
The olive oil and vinegar amounts are to taste. I love a really vinegar-y salad, so usually add more than most people.

Panzanella
serves 4

about 6 cups of day-old, crusty peasant-style bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large tomatoes, trimmed and cut into 8 wedges
1 cup peeled and seeded cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/3 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 to 4 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
a handful (about 15-20- I like a lot) of fresh basil leaves, torn up

Mix everything together in a bowl and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Pin It

Baked Asparagus Risotto - No Stirring!

Risotto is one of those dishes that I find particularly easy. I've made it so many times that it's kind of like second nature. And I love its versatility.
There is always some sort of vegetable or leftover meat lurking in the back of the fridge or freezer that I can mix with pearly, fat grains of arborio rice, hot stock and Parmesan to make a hearty meal.

The one thing about risotto is that you have to stand there and stir. And stir.
For about 30 minutes.
Sometimes this can be tedious. Especially when there are more interesting things to do. Like laugh at celebrities on gofugyourself.com read up on world events or study French.

So to give myself more time to be studious and worldly, I have a baked risotto recipe that cuts the amount of time in front of the stove by about two thirds.

The texture is a bit different that stovetop risotto. The grains are softer, not as al dente, but the flavor is wonderful!

Baked Asparagus Risotto

• 8 ounces/250g thick, smoky bacon, chopped into small pieces
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons/25g butter plus 1 tablespoon/12g
• 10 ounces/300g risotto rice
• 8 ounces/ 250g fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup/125ml of white wine (optional)
• 3 cups/700ml hot chicken stock
• pinch salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup/50g Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat oven to 200C/400F
Fry the bacon pieces in an ovenproof pan or casserole dish with a lid for 3-5 minutes until crisp.
Stir in the onion and 2 tablespoons/25g butter and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft.
Add the rice and stir for a minute or two, until all the grains are coated.
Pour in the optional white wine and cook for 2 minutes, until absorbed.
Add the hot stock, the salt and the asparagus pieces, then give it all a quick stir.
Cover with a tight fitting lid and bake for 20-30 minutes, until just cooked.
Stir in half of the Parmesan and remaining butter.
Serve, sprinkled with the remainder of the cheese and pass the pepper mill.

Serves 4


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Italian Food

I'm not Italian by blood. But I am Italian by osmosis.

You see, I'm adopted. And my adoptive parents, who picked me up at the orphanage when I was a tiny six weeks old, are Italian on one side and English on the other. I have to say that the Italian side was much stronger and more gregarious than the English side, thus I feel more Italian than English.

My dad's parents are 100% Italian, both from Calabria, down in the "toe'' of Italy. Have you ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Well, my family's gatherings and weddings were eerily similar. Just call them My Big Fat Italian Weddings and you've got the idea.

Yesterday my dad flew down to visit us at my sister's house and it has been a cooking and eating frenzy since he arrived. Last night I made spaghetti all'Amatriciana for dinner, then this morning the meatballs were being mixed up by 9 a.m., with the final few finishing up their cooking about 11 a.m.
Just in time for brunch. Which consisted of meatballs in sauce, sprinkled with Parmesan, and bread.
It was heaven.


my oldest nephew, mixing up the meatball mix


brunch - meatballs with bread to soak up the sauce


After a third of the meatballs had been eaten and we were all regretting that we had enjoyed so many at our stomach's expense, my dad spied a pile of baking potatoes and decided that we should make cavatelli. Cavatelli is the Calabrian dialect for gnocchi. It is something that I grew up eating on holidays and visits to my grandparent's house. It was always a special treat and my grandma taught me how to make her cavatelli many years ago, but since then I've never taken the time to make it.
Today I had the opportunity.

Three generations of us, with grandma constantly being consulted on the phone, all made a huge batch of cavatelli.


dad making the dough


my sister and oldest niece making pasta


the dough before it is formed into the correct shape


my youngest niece learning how to make the pasta


the rolled out cavatelli


the cooked cavatelli with sauce

I feel very lucky to have grown up with both my Italian and my English parents. But I must admit, the food from the Italian side is much, much better! Pin It

An Italian Soirée in the South of France

Saturday night we gathered again, this time to celebrate the cuisine of Italy.
It was supposed to be a Japanese evening, but three of the eight of us don't eat sushi and some of the ingredients for Japanese food are understandably difficult to source in the south of France. As much as we like a bit of a challenge, this is also a night for us to enjoy each other's company, so we opted for an easier cuisine.

Frustratingly, the batteries in my camera up and died shortly after snapping what turned out to be a super blurry shot of the Farro and Chickpea soup that I brought. (I'll post the recipe later this week)
Thankfully a borrowed camera saved the day, so I do have a few photos to share of our fantastic meal.

after the soup came a gratin of Belgian endive, Parmesan, garlic and loads of butter with super garlicky garlic bread - just the way I like it!


then steaming, savory prosciutto, wild mushrooms and herbs in parchment paper and grilled cherry tomatoes

The photo of the main course, Pasticcio, was blurry as well. Merde!

dessert of the most amazing, boozy, orange zest infused tiramisu

We love our World Food evenings! Next time...
South Africa! Pin It