CHLOES RECIPE

INGREDIENTS serves 4
500g lean minced beef+ SOOg minced pork + bOg nearly state white bread, moistened in 60m1 milk+ 1 small egg+ 120g Parmesan, finely grated +1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped +1 garlic clove, grated 4 2tbsp extra virgin ollve oil 14 ltsp salt+ ltsp bone marrow (optional) +1 large handftit of basil leaves Tomato sauce: 2 x 400g tins tomatoes 4 50m1-lOOml stock +1 small glass red wine +2 garlic cloves, crushed+ Y tSp 2 sugar+ Y2tsp salt+ 30m1 extra virgin olive oil black pepper 41 dried chilli (optional)

METHOD Ste 1 The

tomato sauce: In a large frying pan, add a glug of olive oil, then sizzle the crushed garlic. After a minute or so, pour in the wine and let it simmer off a little. Then pour in the tomatoes, salt, sugar, stock and chilli. Simmer on [ow heat for 40mm to 1 hour, reducing to a rich sauce. Taste and season. Remove the garlic. Blend the sauce. St 2 In a small bowl, combine the bread and milk. Set aside to soften. Squeeze most of the milk out and combine it with the beef and pork, egg, bOg Parmesan, parsley, garlic and the bone marrow if using (its easy to make: bake the bone for 3Omins in the oven at 125C, then scrape it out). Season. Allow the mix to rest. Step 3 Test by cooking a tiny bit of the meat mix in a frying pan. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. Form 12 large, round meatballs. Step 4 Add some olive oil to a frying pan on medium heat. Pop the balls in the pan, frying gently, making sure they caramelise evenly for about 10mm. Pour the tomato sauce into the pan, pop the lid over and let it simmer on a low heat until theyre cooked. Sttp S Serve the balls and garnish with the remaining Parmesan and fresh basil leaves. Eat with bread, mash or spaghetti.

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Life&Slyle ()d
Chloe Scott tests top recipes to cook the ultimate meatba [Is
HEN the public goes into a frenzy over something like a meatball, it may be annoying to us jaded foodie observers but a meatball can be a damn good thing. So says chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain and hes right. While an enormous dry meatball is underwhelming, a moist and flavoursome one is an exciting experience. Which is why youll find office workers in India eating them as koftas, Stockholmers ordering kttb ullar with lingonberries and New Yorkers chowing on Italian meatballs with spaghetti. The quality of meat and choice of animal pig, cow, bird, sheep, deer means there are almost infinite possi bilities. I need to narrow down my choices for testing and beef with pork is the classic combination. I also try beef on its own, as recom mended in Omar Allibhoys albndi gas en salsa in Tapas Revolution (Ebury), and a veallpork blend from the polpette recipe in Jacob Kenedys Bocca cookbook (Bloomsbury) but I find these beef-only ones miss the pork fat. Its worth noting that Chez Panisse chef Alice Waters makes hers with beef and minced pork shoulder, a joint with a generous helping of deli cious collagen. As meatballs are tra ditionally food for working folk, I like the plain old beef (chuck cut) with pork, especially as the veal/pork version I make loses the benefits of rose veals sophisticated flavour and texture. There are plenty of theories about how to get the heady lustrous texture we all hanker for. I dont like meat balls that break apart on cooking, or

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You cant balls these up

FuLL circle: The cLassic round meatbaLL is made up of beef and pork but there are plenty of variations on the them

equally dry ones. Both Kenedy and Allibhoy soak bread in milk to address this. Egg is used by everyone from the late Marcella Hazan to modern lads Pizza Pilgrims. Both techniques are useful binding mechanisms. If youre using one kilo of meat and bread with milk, just one small egg encourages tenderness. Another option is to include bone marrow. Im sceptical but including a single teaspoon results in a bewitch ing depth of flavour. Spice-wise, look east and youll find cardamom, coriander seeds and tur meric in meatballs. More European is

parsley and sometimes nutmeg. Ive heard of oregano and mint being sprinkled hut I prefer simplicity, let ting the meat sing for itself. Some swear by garlic, while others stick with onions and some, such as Allibhoy, use both. Again, I find less is more. One clove of garlic, finely grated, doesnt impose. On reading of Henry Dimblebys meatballs in Leons Family And I become Friends Cookbook intrigued about the cream cheese in the centre. It sounds odd and, alas, on sampling! dont like the cream cheese one bit.

Size matters. Boccas eight tenni ball-sized monsters get a little drie out by muggins here. Im not keen o walnut size because I want somethin a bit more impressive. Russell Noi man, the man responsible for kicl starting the recent meatball mania i Britain, has a splendid pork and bec polpette recipe. In his book PoIp (Bloomsbury), he recommends larg golf balls, a fine option. Everyone thinks their method c cooking the balls is best. I get the be results by frying rather than baking. caramelises meatballs and brings oi. their sweet meatiness.