November 2016 ITALIA! 79INGREDIENTS
350g swordfish, skinned, boned and cut
into cubes
100g stale bread (about 2 slices), crumbled
1 onion, peeled and coarsely grated
4 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
1 tbsp drained and chopped gherkins
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp freshly ground white pepper
8 canned anchovies,
drained and mashed to a pulp
90ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp pine nuts
the freshly grated zest and juice of
1 orange
a large handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
flatbread or crusty bread, to servePut the fi sh, bread, onion, capers, gherkins,
lemon juice, pepper and half the anchovies
in a food processor. Pulse in brief bursts to a
soft, dense paste, but don’t over-process.
Transfer to a work surface. Take heaped
teaspoons of the mixture and squeeze them
to make them fi rm, then roll each portion
into a neat ball about 3cm in diameter. You
should end up with about 36.Put half the oil in a frying pan, preferably
non-stick, and heat until very hot. Add half
of the fi sh balls, and shake the pan over a
medium heat for 3-4 minutes, so the balls
roll and turn and brown all over. Test one: it
should feel dense and fi rm and be the same
colour right through.Remove the balls from the pan and keep hot
on a plate. Add the remaining oil to the pan
and cook the remaining balls.Pour all but 4 tbsp of the oil out of the pan.
Add the pine nuts and shake and stir until
golden brown, then remove with a slotted
spoon. Keep hot with the fi sh balls.
Add the orange zest and juice and remaining
anchovies to the pan. Stir over a medium
heat until syrupy. Add half the parsley and
extra lemon juice, if necessary.Serve the fi sh balls hot, warm or cool with
the sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining
parsley and serve with crusty bread or a crisp
Italian fl atbread.Recipe by Clare Ferguson, photography by Martin BrigdaleSwordfi sh balls
Arancini di pane al pesce spada
➤ SERVES 4-6 ➤ PREPARATION 30 minutes ➤ COOKING 30 minutes
IT144.Recipes-Meatballs.sg4.indd 79 28/09/2016 16:27pm