Meatballs With Pine Nuts And Raisins Recipes

MEATBALLS WITH RAISINS

Steps:

• PREPARATION:.
• Soak bread in milk then drain it well.
• Soak the raisins in warm water for a half hour to revive them. Grind the meat and combine it with the bread, eggs, cheese, and parsley, seasoning to taste with salt. Make your meatballs, including a couple of raisins in the heart of each one. Sauté the meatballs in the olive oil, turning them so they brown on all sides, and when they're done stir in a cup or so of tomato sauce and heat through. Serve accompanied by broccoli rabe, and a moderately tannic red wine.

ITALIAN MEATBALLS WITH RAISINS AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Put all the above ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand until well blended.
• Roll the meat into meatballs the size of golf balls.
• Brown in skillet with olive oil or bacon fat.
• Once meatballs are browned, place in a saucepan with tomato sauce and simmer 1-2 hours. Serve over pasta.

MEATBALLS WITH PINE NUTS AND RAISINS

Steps:

• 1 Prepare the ragù or sauce, if necessary. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Then, soak the bread in the milk for 10 minutes. Drain the bread and squeeze out the excess liquid. 2 In a large bowl, combine the meats, bread, eggs, garlic, parsley, raisins, pine nuts, cheese, salt, nutmeg, and pepper to taste. With your hands, thoroughly mix together all of the ingredients. 3 Rinse your hands in cool water to prevent sticking, then lightly shape the mixture into 2-inch balls. Roll the meatballs lightly in the bread crumbs. 4 Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the meatballs and fry until nicely browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. (Turn them carefully with tongs.) 5 Place the meatballs in the ragù or sauce. Simmer until cooked through, about 30 minutes. Serve hot. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

MEATBALLS TONY'S WAY

Steps:

• Place bread in a medium bowl; add enough water to moisten and let stand for 1 minute. Drain and squeeze liquid from bread; tear or crumble bread into small pieces and transfer to a large bowl, along with ground beef, garlic, parsley, cheese, raisins, pine nuts, salt, pepper, eggs, and dried breadcrumbs. Mix until well combined.
• Shape meat mixture into 2 1/2-inch meatballs. Place equal amounts of olive and grapeseed oil in a large skillet so that the skillet is filled 1/2-inch deep with oil and heat over medium heat. When oil is hot, add meatballs to skillet, working in batches if necessary, and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
• Heat tomato sauce in a large saucepan. Transfer meatballs to saucepan and let simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with remaining cheese.

MEATBALLS: THE SPUNTINO WAY

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Put the fresh bread in a bowl, cover it with water, and let it soak for a minute or so. Pour off the water and wring out the bread, then crumble and tear it into tiny pieces.
• 2. Combine the bread with all the remaining ingredients except the tomato sauce in a medium mixing bowl, adding them in the order they are listed. Add the dried bread crumbs last to adjust for wetness: the mixture should be moist wet, not sloppy wet.
• 3. Shape the meat mixture into handball-sized meatballs and space them evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The meatballs will be firm but still juicy and gently yielding when they're cooked through. (At this point, you can cool the meatballs and hold them in the refrigerator for as long as a couple of days or freeze them for the future.)
• 4. Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the meatballs comfortably.
• 5. Dump the meatballs into the pan of sauce and nudge the heat up ever so slightly. Simmer the meatballs for half an hour or so (this isn't one of those cases where longer is better) so they can soak up some sauce. Keep them there until it's time to eat.
• 6. Serve the meatballs 3 to a person in a healthy helping of the red sauce, and hit everybody's portion-never the pan-with a fluffy mountain of grated cheese. Reserve the leftover tomato sauce (it will be super-extra-delicious) and use it anywhere tomato sauce is called for in this book.