Marco Gavio Apicius, a Roman cook, between 25 BC and 35 BC he cooked both meat and fish meatballs according to what has been handed down but the first text in which this preparation is mentioned is much later, it is the Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino , who was the most important European cook of the 15th century.
But the origin, according to other sources, is not European but rather from ancient Persia: kofta, typical Middle Eastern meatballs, derive their name from the Persian koofteh, which means "pounded meat".
And variations, in the ingredients, in the cooking but not in the concept of mincing, kneading, compacting, are found all over the world from Japan to Vietnam, from the United States to France and obviously to Italy where the fundamental text of Pellegrino Artusi kitchen and
But this is history, there are two fundamental aspects on the subject: the meatball is the comfort food par excellence - a consoling, tasty food that tastes like home at every latitude, a food that identifies family and birth (each has its own basic recipe) and therefore of memory - and it is a recovered food - poor, made with leftovers, with cheap ingredients but which put together and artfully processed give a succulent result.
And even the birth of a restaurant in Rome, now with 4 locations Gazometro, Trastevere, Monti and Fiumicino, entitled Polpetta, demonstrates that everything is meatball and that of the food often associated with street food and home cooking has set up an entire menu from antipasto onwards, including pasta pizza burger (indeed polpburger) and even dessert.
The idea came to chef Giovanni Nerini, a native of Milan (land of mondeghili, the famous meatballs poor dish of the peasant tradition, with a Spanish heart during the 150 years of domination of the Lombard territory) with his mother from Puglia, moved to Rome for years.
ANSA.it
Mondeghili and Mandonguilles, the street food bridge between Milan and Barcelona - Lifestyle
Meatballs and street-food: the trend of summer 2022 connects Milan and Barcelona in the name of a common dish, the Lombard mondeghili born from the Catalan mandonguilles.
(HANDLE)
Here is a proposal that varies from the more traditional versions to other fusion.
There is no shortage of traditional meatballs with meat or seasonal ones, such as those with eggplant, thyme and salted ricotta.
There are those in fashion that contain the cult dishes of Roman cuisine, meatballs amatriciana, carbonara, cacio e pepe, porchetta di Ariccia, mortadella with pistachios, chicken cacciatore and then, in season, pumpkin meatballs (with in quince mustard, accompanied by a taleggio sauce), with chickpeas.
From the world come original recipes such as prawn meatballs with Thai red curry (made with coconut milk, red curry paste and various spices) or Hungarian goulash meatballs with potatoes.
The breading changes according to the ingredients: if the traditional ones are prepared with the classic breadcrumbs,
the cod ones are wrapped in cornmeal, while the chicken ones are breaded with panko and accompanied by a homemade honey mustard, perfected by the chef after a trip to America.
Among the starters also the Black Angus tartare meatballs.
For desserts, the fun proposals of sweet meatballs such as Tiramisu with biscuit meatballs, those of Pan di stelle with ricotta, chocolate and pears, ricotta, coconut and Nutella and cheesecakes with strawberry sauce.
From chef Giovanni Nerini the recipe for meatballs alla cacciatora for 4 people
For the dough
500 gr of ground chicken
1 egg
5 gr.
salt
1 pinch of pepper
50 gr.
grated Grana Padano cheese
50 gr.
of bread
5 gr.
Parsley
For cooking
Flour to taste
Garlic 2 cloves
White wine 100 ml
Gaeta olives 50 gr
White vinegar 10 gr
Vegetable broth to taste (can be replaced with water)
Salt to taste
Bay leaf, Sage and rosemary
For the dough:
Soak the bread in water, then squeeze it.
Wash and dry the parsley, then chop it.
Put these 2 ingredients and all the others of the dough in a large bowl and knead them until they are well blended.
Make meatballs that are not too big (about 30 g), mash them lightly and flour them.
Put the crushed poached garlic in a non-stick pan, pour in the extra virgin olive oil, heat it then gently put the meatballs.
Brown them on one side, then turn them over.
When they are golden on both sides, add the white wine and let it evaporate.
Then add the aromatic herbs, plenty of broth (to cover the meatballs) and cook for about ten minutes over medium heat.
During cooking, if needed, add more broth.
Finally add the vinegar, season with salt and cook for another 2 minutes.
You will have to get a sauce that is not too liquid.
Serve decorating with aromatic herbs.