Italian Peasant Cuisine - Cheese Balls

My parents were both born and raised in Italy. They come from the Abruzzo region. Abruzzo is approximately 2 1/2 hours northeast of Rome. My father comes from the outskirts of Pescara on the shoreline of the Adriatic Sea and my mother is from the outskirts of the city Chieti. Her little town is located at the foot of the Gran Sasso mountains. This recipe that I am featuring today is a classic poor man's cuisine dish. It is called pallotte cacio e uova. Which translates to egg and cheese balls. The original recipe calls for sheeps milk cheese. I've improvised by mixing parmegiano reggiano cheese to lessen the sharpness. By all means, if you enjoy the sharpness of pecorino cheese; go for it! The dough consists of stale bread, eggs and cheese. Very easy to make and tasty!

Pallotte Cacio e Uova a traditional poor man's dish from the Abruzzo region



Pallotte Cacio e Uova

Pallotte

Ingredients
100 grams of stale bread
2 cups grated pecorino cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup of milk
4 eggs
1 tbsp. minced parsley
vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Sauce:
400gr ripe tomatoes or sauce from the bottle
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 onion
basil
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

For the Pallotte

Soak the stale bread in the milk until completely softened. Squeeze out the excess milk.



soak bread in milk



Add the eggs, parsley, garlic, pinch of pepper and cheese to the bread mixture. Mix until well incorporated. Let rest in fridge for about an hour.



incorporate the rest of the ingredients and let rest

 

Shape into small balls and fry in vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Then place on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.



ready to be fried

 

Sauce

In a large pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the minced garlic and onion. Add the chopped tomato or sauce from the bottle, and a glass of water. Let cook for about 10 minutes. Once the water evaporates, add some basil (I also add a little chopped parsley) and salt to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes, on medium heat. Make sure you stir constantly to prevent burning. Transfer the balls into the sauce and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Buon Appetito!



Orecchiette Con Rapini a Poor Man's Dish

Pasta with rapini (broccoli rabe) is my family's all time favorite. For some reason my children are not fond of tomato sauce pasta. They prefer this dish and I'm happy for that because it's so quick and easy to make. Considered a poor man's dish in the Italian culture this dish is truly a comfort food in our home. I purchase rapini a few bunches at a time. I then wash, trim the ends, cut and boil. Once cooled I  place the rapini in baggies and freeze so it's ready when I need it. I also sauté rapini with a bit of olive oil, salt and garlic and serve it as a side dish with meat.

If you do not have orecchiette, penne would be a good substitute.

Orecchiette Con Rapini

Pasta Con Rapini

1 bunch                 rapini (broccoli rabe) boiled and chopped**
2                           garlic cloves, minced
1 pkg  (450 gr)     orecchiette or penne
4 tbsp.                  olive oil
1 tsp                     salt

Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Remove once cooked and drain water reserving 4 tbsp. of the water.

Boil the pasta until al dente or the texture suits your palette

 

 

Sautee the minced garlic with the olive oil until light golden. Add the rapini and cook for a good 10 minutes. Add salt to the rapini and stir.

Sautee the rapini with olive oil and garlic

Add the pasta and reserved water to the rapini and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat. If you feel the pasta is a little dry, add more olive oil, stir the pasta mixture to evenly distribute.

Add the pasta and reserved water to the rapini

Serve with parmesan cheese.

**boil the rapini for 30 minutes or until tender. I like to boil the rapini really well to get rid of the bitterness of the vegetable.


Buon Appetito!