Italian Meatballs and Polenta

Meatballs was a peasant dish created using all the offcuts of meat the Italians could find, normally pork and beef, adding bread to make it go further and rolling it into its classic meatball shape, when they immigrated to America, meatballs went with and this is where the Americans added spaghetti, which the Italians then adopted too, eaten like this all over the world now.
I made it with polenta today also a corn meal based peasant dish which is now seen in all restaurants enhanced with tons of butter and Parmesan, I make mine very plain and light, only adding a little olive oil and seasoning.

Italian food always seems to bring back memories and makes me thoughtful of events passed, this particular occasion I used my basil out the garden and remembered Sergio Pavan's beautiful garden of fresh vegetables and herbs, freshly picked for lunch on a daily basis.

These recipes are dairy free and wheat free, paleo friendly without the polenta, it is enhanced with tons of grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Italian Meatballs 
Makes 20

500g pork mince (or use beef)
1/4 onion grated
1/2 carrot grated
1 garlic clove grated
1tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
5ml lemon juice
5ml Worcestershire
15ml tomato sauce
optional: add 1 egg and 30ml breadcrumbs

Mix together, fry a small piece off and check the seasoning then roll into balls.
I fry the balls off on the outside for colour in the pan I am going to use for the sauce as it gives flavour.
Just fry the outside of the balls then remove and set aside, start the sauce below in this pan.

Napolitana Sauce

1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 celery stalk peeled and chopped
20ml sunflower oil
1 by 400g tin whole peeled tomatoes, chop the tomatoes by hand
1/2 carrot grated (I added 2 grated baby marrow too)
1tbsp tomato paste
10ml Worcestershire sauce
5ml lemon juice
5ml balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar optional

Fry the onion, garlic and celery until softened in the oil, add the tinned tomatoes, chopped, grated vegetables,  tomato paste and simmer for 40 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients to taste, then add the meatballs and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Thicken with cornflour if necessary and adjust seasoning.

Polenta
You pretty much need to follow the packet instructions as there are different kinds, the one I have is grainy so it needs to cook for at least 30 - 40 minutes and I keep adding water so its hard to say how much, here is a rough guide to follow.

Bring 700ml water to the boil with 5ml salt
turn the temperature down low otherwise you will have a polenta volcano.
add about 200ml of polenta while whisking.
Place the lid on and in 5 minutes stir it and see if you need more water, it need to be a thick paste consistency but able to bubble lightly.
Allow to cook on low, stir every 5 minutes and add water as you see fit.
When it is cooked add salt,  if you like butter and Parmesan but I just left it plain with a dash of olive oil. I greased a Pyrex dish with olive oil, pour the polenta in and allow to set.
Cut into squares, you can now steam it, fry it, bake it and serve it with anything really. Sometimes I cut it into blocks and treat it like gnocchi, topped with sauce.

Recipe and pictures copyright by Tamsyn Wells

Italian Favorites

My brother has been asking me to teach him how to make Pasta for ages now, our schedules just have not allowed for us to get together for a pasta day... we ended up having beers on the beach instead, I am not complaining. We going into season in the kitchen now  so when I am finished a long shift Italian is always my turn to meal for something quick and delicious. So I started working on some recipes to teach my brother so long and here they are.

Home Made Gnocchi with Basil Pesto

There are recipes that use egg and some recipes don't it's because in Veneto they use egg and in Piedmont they don't so it really depends who wrote the recipe but both ways work, I used egg this time.

serves 4
1kg potatoes
2 large eggs
350g flour ( approx, oo flour may be used)
1/2 tsp salt
100ml basil pesto ( I used pesto princess)
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
100ml grated parmesan

Bake the potatoes on 180° c for an hour or until cooked through, baking is better as the potato is dryer.
Scoop the potato from the skin and mash then push through a sieve twice, working quickly so the potato stays hot.

In a bowl, add the egg and salt to taste. The flour is also added by eye but as little as possible must be added, kneading very lightly and quickly to bring the dough together.

Roll into long thin sausages and cut depending how large you want your gnocchi to be as picture above.

Using the back of a fork, roll the gnocchi over the fork creating lines along the one side to help the sauce stick.

Meanwhile bring some salted water to the boil.

When you have shaped all your gnocchi, place gently in the simmering water, when they rise to the top they are ready, remove with a slotted spoon and enjoy.

Toss with any sauce, I used pesto and olive oil.

They may also be fried with sage butter and parmesan.

Broccoli, chilli and anchovy Orecchiette

This is so salty, tasty and addictive from the anchovies, even if you are not a fan you will love this pasta, its fresh and quick to make unless you shape your own Orecchiette which is a pasta from Puglia, the word means small ears, I used the De Cecco brand but will show you in a future post how to shape it.

serves 2

1/2 pk De Cecco Orecchiette
1/2 head broccoli, broken into florets
10ml olive oil blend for frying
1 chilli ,chopped
10 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon
parmesan

Bring a pot of water to the boil, blanch the broccoli for 2 minutes, remove from the water and refresh in ice water to keep the colour a vivid green.

Boil the pasta in the same water as per packet directions but add salt to the water.

Strain the water and pasta. In the same pot, add the oil blend and fry the chillies, anchovies and garlic. When the garlic is cooked add the broccoli and the pasta. Season and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, serve with grated parmesan.

Recipes and pictures Copyright by Tamsyn Wells