Spaghetti and Mini Meatballs - Vincenzo's Plate
INGREDIENTS
Meatballs
300g ground veal
1 egg yolk
Parmesan cheese (as much as you like!)
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Tomato Sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Half an onion
1 Carrot
1 Bottle of passata (homemade is best if you’ve got some!)
A few celery sticks
4-5 fresh basil leaves
Rock salt
METHOD
Meatballs
1. To make the meatballs, add the egg yolk to a bowl of mince and whisk it through using a fork, breaking down the mince in the process.
2. Add a generous amount of parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt then continue to mix it well.
3. Give the meatball ingredients a final mix using your hands.
4. Pour some EVOO onto a small plate, then rub some onto the palm of one of your hands.
5. Get a small amount of the mince, then roll it into a ball using the palm of your hand that is wet with oil and place it onto a large, flat plate that has just a touch of oil on it so that the mini meatballs don’t stick to it!
Tomato Sauce
1. Turn the stove up to a medium heat.
2. Get a large pot and add a generous amount of EVOO. Cut half an onion and a carrot into small pieces and add these to the pan.
3. Once it heats up, add a bottle of sauce (passata) and mix using a wooden spoon.
4. Then add a few celery stalks, some fresh basil leaves and a small amount of rock salt.
5. Mix well and then leave to simmer on a low heat for around an hour, mixing it every now and then.
Combining the Spaghetti and Meatballs
1. Put a small saucepan on the stove at a low heat. Scoop up a large spoonful of sauce and add it in, then add all of the mini meatballs and mix the sauce through. Leave this to cook for approx. ten minutes.
2. Bring 5L of water to boil in a large pot. Add the freshly made Maccheroni alla Chittara pasta and cook it for around 3-5 minutes. Every so often, mix a wooden fork through the pot so that the strands of pasta don’t stick together.
4. Add a spoonful of sauce to a large bowl and once you have strained the pasta, add it on top. Then, add another generous amount of sauce on top before sprinkling LOTS of freshly grated parmesan over it and mixing through.
5. Then, add the DELICIOUS mini meatballs, mix through again and serve.
6. Add some extra sauce to each plate of spaghetti meatballs and serve with a sprinkle (or two!) of parmesan over the top.