Italia__-_November_2016

EAT ITALIA!

80 ITALIA! November 2016

INGREDIENTS

450g pork shoulder or leg

225g piece unsmoked gammon

225g pork belly

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp fennel seeds

a large pinch of dried chilli

2 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp coarsely crushed black pepper

extra-virgin olive oil

150ml dry white wine

400g can chopped tomatoes

200ml passata

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Trim the pork shoulder or leg, gammon and

pork belly of any skin or connective tissue.

Cut the meat into large chunks, then pass

them through the coarse blade of an electric

mincer or chop very fi nely with a large sharp

knife or cleaver (do not use a food processor).

Alternatively, you can ask the butcher to do

this for you.

Put the meat in a large bowl, add the garlic,

fennel seeds, chilli, salt, sugar and pepper.

Mix well with clean hands or a large wooden

spoon. At this stage, the sausagemeat is ready

to use, but you can cover the bowl and let it

mature in the fridge overnight.

Using damp hands, shape the mixture into

walnut-sized meatballs.

To cook, heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan

and quickly brown the meatballs all over,

in batches if necessary. Remove to a plate

with a slotted spoon and add the wine.

Deglaze the pan and let the wine bubble

until there is only 1 tbsp left. Add the chopped

tomatoes and passata, and season. Bring back

to the boil, then return the meatballs to the

sauce. Part-cover with a lid and simmer for

30-40 minutes, topping up with water if the

sauce is becoming too dry.

Serve as it is, or dress the pasta with the sauce

as a fi rst course and eat the meatballs as a

course on their own.

Pork and fennel meatballs

Polpettine di maiale e fi nocchio

➤ SERVES 6 ➤ PREPARATION 30 minutes ➤ COOKING 1 hour

EAT ITALIA!

Recipe by Maxine Clark, photography by Martin Brigdale

IT144.Recipes-Meatballs.sg4.indd 80 28/09/2016 16:24pm