Camilla Isley

Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 hour 30 min
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1.5 pounds Ground Meat
0.5 pounds Carrots
16 oz Celery
8 slices Bread
2 oz Pecorino Cheese
2 oz Parmesan Cheese
3 Eggs
1 Shallot
Salt and Pepper

This is a very tasty recipe that everyone likes. Depending on the kind of meat you use you can shift the balance between healthy and tasty. Today I’m using an even mix of beef, pork, and turkey. But you can use just beef, beef and pork, beef and turkey, or just turkey/chicken (this being the lighter option).

Instructions

Preheat the oven at 400 °F
Toast the bread and cut the cheese in small cubes. When the bread is hard enough put it in the food processor together with the cheese, add a pinch of salt (also a pinch of black pepper if you like it), and mix. Set aside the mixture in a big bowl.
Repeat with the vegetables, remember to add salt (adding it in the processor helps spreading it equally). Once the veggies are minced, add them to the same bowl you used for the bread.
Break the eggs and scramble them until you have a homogeneous texture. Again mix in a small pinch of salt.
Add the eggs and the meat to the bowl and stir energetically until you have an even blend. (It can be hard to mix everything evenly, usually I help myself with a hand mixer.)
Now use a spoon to scoop up a small quantity of the mix, roll it in your hands until you have an even ball, and set it in a plate. What I do is to set in front of me three plates and add a meatball to each as I go. This way at the end I’ll have three double-serving plates ready. I usually cook one and freeze the other two. If you need different portions you can adjust the quantities.
If you don’t have the time, willingness, or patient—sometimes I lack all three of them—to make the small meatballs, you can roll three good-sized meat loafs. The taste will be equally delicious.
Take a baking pan. You can either line the inside of the pan with parchment paper, or oil it with butter before you arrange the meatballs inside (try to space them evenly). Place the pan in the oven for forty minutes if using butter, or about fifty minutes if using parchment paper. I usually turn the meatballs halfway through.
If you’re cooking a frozen portion, or if you decided to make a loaf allow ten minutes longer.

Meatballs by Camilla Isley June-22-2015

Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

3 oz Pancetta
1 cup Tomato Puree
3.5 oz Pecorino Cheese
6 oz Long Pasta
1 Hot Pepper

This is another regional recipe from Rome, Italy. You can make it spicy adding one hot pepper, or mild leaving the pepper out. The original recipe is made with Guanciale-the cheek of the pork-but since it’s not so easy to procure I’ve substituted it with Pancetta (bacon).

Instructions

Prepare all your ingredients and set a pot of water to boil for the pasta. You can prepare the sauce in the time it takes for the water to boil and the pasta to cook. The original recipe is made with a pasta called Bucatini (thick hollow spaghetti). Since they’re not so common, any kind of long pasta will do. I’m using Linguine.
Slice the pancetta in small strips and put it in a frying pan to cook. It is not necessary to add oil or butter.Cook the bacon until the fat has become transparent. If you prefer it crispier leave it a bit longer. However, it has to remain soft.
At this point I do the unthinkable and dry the bacon of its fat in a colander over the sink. But you can skip this step in favor of deliciousness.
Slice the hot pepper in tiny pieces and add it to the bacon. Skip if you don’t like spicy food.
Add the tomato puree, a pinch of salt, and mix. Again, the original recipe would be with fresh tomatoes, but since I’m still a bit of a kid cooked tomatoes with seeds and skin gross me out and I prefer the creamy puree. Lower the fire to a minimum until the pasta is cooked.
Dry the pasta and toss it in the pan. Mix while adding about half of the cheese.
Plate and sprinkle the remaining of the cheese on each plate.