Polpettini

You know that store in the mall that sells all the calendars?  They had a bunch of other stuff this year, too, and I went after Christmas and everything was 50% off list price.  So I saw this cookbook and it was only $5

And of course I had to get it, since I have often referred to myself as such.  And, I love that show on Food Network (which I do not have; I watch it on Netflix) called Worst Cooks in America, which Anne Burrell is on.  They take people who can't even boil water and turn them into these awesome cooks.  I think I like that show for the same reason that I like to watch Hoarders: it makes me feel pretty good about how things are going around here haha.  Food Network recipes are not typically my type of cooking.  They tend to be more effort than I like to put into an average recipe, and they also are fancier or more complicated or something.  But for $5.  So I did mark a few recipes to try, and this is the first one up to bat.  Polpettini apparently means "yummy little meatballs" but that is according to Anne, it might not actually mean that. 

The meat for these is a mixture of ground beef, veal, and pork.  And I did plan to buy those individually.  But to my complete surprise, Hannaford has a "meatball mix" which is these 3 meats already ground up and mixed.  So obviously I got that because it is a time-saver, and an effort saver.  Also, I subbed in gluten free bread crumbs and BOOM it became a gluten free recipe. 

This recipe also calls for finely chopped fresh rosemary.  I have a small Tupperware chopper which is perfect for that.

And, lastly, and probably predictably, my meatballs looked more like meatplops.  They didn't hold their shape.  You'll see.  Ok so here's the recipe.

Polpettini
Olive oil
3 onions, diced
kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, smashed
½ lb ground beef
½ lb ground pork
½ lb ground veal
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
¾ cup grated parmesan
½ cup bread crumbs
3 lg eggs
2 cups chicken stock

Coat large saute pan with olive oil and bring to medium heat.  Add the onions, season with salt, and cook for 8-10 minutes or until soft and very aromatic.  Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 more minutes. 

Remove from heat and let cool (I really didn't let it cool for that long).

Transfer onions to large bowl and add the beef, veal, pork, rosemary, parmesan, 1/4 cup water, bread crumbs, and eggs; generously season with salt.  Use your hands to combine everything well.  The mixture should be loose, so add 1-2 tbsp more water if needed.

Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls (I really hate doing that...I buy gloves from the pharmacy section of Walmart to wear when doing such things).

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring it to medium-high heat.  Working in batches so you don't overcrowd the pan, cook the polpettini

until browned on all sides, then add about 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and cook until the stock is reduced by half, about 2-3 minutes. 

Remove and keep warm.  Repeat process with remaining polpettini until they are all cooked.

Optional: stick with fresh rosemary as toothpicks (I opted not to...).

So clearly you can see this was a lot of work and they don't really look that great.  The ones in her picture of course are perfectly round and you could serve them at the garden party or whatever.  Mine definitely look like I made them. Haha.  As I was making these, I thought that I would not be making them again.  They took much longer than I was expecting, because of cooking in batches etc.  However, they tasted really good, and everyone eating them liked them. 

So I'm keeping the recipe after all.  But I'm sure I won't be making them often.  Unless I get invited to the garden party of someone I don't like very well haha.