Maccarrones de Poddighe con Polpettine e Pecorino
Maccarrones de Poddighe con Polpettine e Pecorino
Thumbprint Pasta with Tiny Meatballs and Pecorino
When I moved to Italy, the spaghetti and meatballs I had grown up eating—and loving—in New Jersey were nowhere to be found. I chalked up their absence to their identity as strictly an Italian American thing. Imagine my joy when I found an exception to the rule at Il Rifugio in Nuoro in Sardinia: flat disks of pasta served with marble-size meatballs in a tomato-basil sauce. In classic Sardinian style, the sauce is seasoned with a generous quantity of sharp sheep’s-milk cheese, which adds an earthy depth and a savory note to the sweet and acidic tomato. For what it’s worth, spaghetti-and-meatball lovers will find another exception on the mainland in Abruzzo, around Loreto, where fresh pasta strands are tossed with meatballs. In both cases, the dishes are so intensely local that most Italians outside the villages are skeptical of their existence.
Ingredients (13)
Ingredients (13)
Instructions
Place the bread (½ loaf) in a medium bowl and pour the milk (½ cup) over it. Set aside to allow the bread to absorb the milk. Drain the bread, squeezing out and discarding excess liquid. Transfer the bread to a large bowl.
Add the veal (1 lb), egg (1 large), garlic (1 clove), parsley (2 tsp), and ½ cup of the pecorino, and season with salt and pepper. Knead the ingredients together, taking care not to overwork the mixture, until combined.
Use your hands to form the mixture into balls the size of a marble and set aside on a plate.
Heat the olive oil (3 Tbsp) in a large frying pan or cast-iron skillet, over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the meatballs to the pan, working in batches as needed, and brown all over.
Add the basil and fry for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes (1 28-oz can) and cook until they have lost their raw flavor and the sauce has reduced slightly.
Remove from the heat and stir in ½ cup of the Pecorino Romano.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Salt the water until it tastes like a seasoned soup.
Add the maccarrones (1 ¼ lb) and cook until the pasta has lost its raw flavor, or cook until al dente if using dried pasta. Drain, reserving some pasta cooking water.
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