traditional meatballs from Puglia Southern Italy Recipe
First of all, you need to know that cuisine of Puglia is very simple! we use lots of local herbs and flavors….but we never cover the taste of what we want to prepare. This means that if we are preparing meatballs…we don’t use tons of garlic…just a little bit to give the flavor…but not to cover the taste of the meat.
Second thing you need to know, the meat needs to be of high quality. We prefer beef…but the front leg of the animal. The meat needs to have some fat in it. The fat is necessary so that the meatballs are tender. Otherwise they become too dry and hard!
Third thing, you need to remember is that meatballs are prepared in many different ways in Italy. Every region has different herbs or way to preparing it. However, all these recipes come from the Italian tradition. You need to work the ingredients very slowly and with love. You need to FEEL what you are doing….that’s the main ingredient!
This is a recipe that my Grandmother taught me. This is one of the recipes i teach at my Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School in Puglia, Southern Italy. Here I and my sister, we teach the traditional home made cuisine from Puglia.
for more info visit http://www.stilemediterraneo.it
- ground beef meat (first quality)
- egg
- grated parmesan cheese
- black pepper
- sea salt
- 3 day breadcrumb
- milk
- garlic
- parsley
- mint
- extra virgin olive oil
- nutmeg
- home made tomato sauce
- First , prepare all the ingredients:
- grate the parmesan; chop the garlic clove very coarsely; chop the parsley very coarsely; grate the nutmeg; cut the mint leaves in small pieces. Take some breadcrumbs and put some milk on top to moist. - Add all the ingredients you prepared to the meat. Add the egg, the black pepper, the salt. Work all together with your hands. Work gently!
- Make some small size balls.
GRILL THEM, on a grill pan where you put some extra virgin olive oil.
Put them in the home made tomato suace you prepared in advance, just with onion, basil, tomatos - Eat warm!
Member recipes are not tested by the CHOW food team.
My grandmother came from Calabria (Cosenza/Acri). Our meatballs are a bit different. We mix pork/beef with all the other ingredients you listed, except the mint, which I think sounds interesting. I'm going to try yours. Grazie.
I love the way your recipe just lists ingredients! That is the way all of mine are. Ajust to taste and preference. I have signature dishes that I'm known for that taste a bit different each time. Now that's the sign of a fantastic cook!
Sounds delicious. I would just like to know how much of each ingredient is needed. That would help us amateurs!