Cheese and Egg Balls

Cheese And Egg Balls

Pallotte Cacio E Uova

This dish is a rustic specialty born in the mountain villages of Italy’s Abruzzo region. Shepherds and farmers created them with simple, inexpensive ingredients they always had on hand. Today, this humble dish is celebrated as classic comfort food, especially in the highlands, where it is enjoyed with crusty bread to soak up the flavorful sauce.

Ingredients:

Pallotte or Egg Balls:
3 cups (750 mL) coarse fresh bread crumbs (see TIP)
2 large eggs
1 cup (250 mL) finely grated Pecorino Romano
1/2 cup (125 mL) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more to garnish
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup (80 mL) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground pepper
Olive oil for frying
Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup (125 mL) onion, finely chopped
2 medium-size garlic cloves, finely minced
2 cups (500 g) tomato polpa, such as Mutti
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup (60 mL) small or torn basil leaves
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs, eggs, cheeses, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands until you get a dough-like consistency. (It should be moist but firm enough to shape into balls. If it feels too wet, add a little more bread crumbs.) Form into balls about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. You should get 10 to 12 balls.

Fill a large sauté pan about one third of the way with olive oil. Place over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, carefully add balls to pan. Cook, gently turning them occasionally, until golden brown and crispy on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Pour off and strain all but 3 tbsp (45 mL) oil into a heatproof container to save for another use. Place pan over medium heat. Add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds more. Carefully add tomato polpa—it will splatter—and season with salt and pepper. Simmer sauce for 15 minutes.

Place pallotte (balls) into sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, very gently turning occasionally so they absorb flavours of sauce. Gently transfer to a large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and basil.
Serves 4

TIP Fresh bread crumbs are made by crumbling stale rustic bread, crusts and all. If bread is hard, soak it in warm water for 5 minutes then squeeze out excess moisture before crumbling.

Mama Marie Bolognese

 

Mama Marie Bolognese

Some dishes speak louder than others. “I love simple, flavorful food—and this one was a no-brainer.” A longtime admirer of Italian cuisine wasn’t able to taste test Mama Marie’s Bolognese due to a work emergency but he was moved by the heartfelt story behind it and knew it was a dish that deserved to be shared. Great food is about more than flavor: It’s about bringing people together, whether over a plated dinner or a bowl of something timeless, like bolognese. Copied and altered from Edible San Diego Fall issue 2025.
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large white onion, chopped
1 package fresh basil, chopped
2 pounds lean ground meat, tri-tip, or 6 Italian sausages
3 28-ounce cans tomato sauce (ready-cut with basil)
1 12-ounce can tomato paste
1 28-ounce can tomato purée
1⁄2 bunch parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning to taste
4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1⁄2 cup red wine
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground anise
Directions:
Make The Bolognese

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and infuse with garlic, onion, and basil for 2 minutes.
Add the meat of your choice and sear for an additional 2–3 minutes, allowing the meat to brown slightly.

Add all the tomato ingredients, parsley, oregano, rosemary, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and bay leaves. Stir well to blend the flavors.
Use the empty tomato paste can to measure 1 can of water, and the large tomato sauce can for an additional can of water. Add both to the sauce and mix thoroughly.

Let the sauce simmer on low heat for about 3 hours, stirring every 15–20 minutes to prevent sticking.

After 30 minutes of cooking, stir in red pepper flakes and red wine for depth of flavor.

One hour before serving, add thinly sliced carrots, fresh lemon juice, and ground anise. This will allow the carrots to melt into the sauce and enhance its sweetness. 

Serve with your favorite cooked pasta.  Serves 10 to 12.

Scarlet Beans, Red Pepper, and Celery Salad

 

Month will officially start on Monday with a different salad each day on our social media outlets, but we thought we'd get a headstart here with a perfect get-together salad for the beach or the back porch.



A salad shouldn't be a controversial thing, but if you ask around, people have many different ideas. Some view salads as a palate cleanser and some think of salads as a substitute for vegetables at dinner. Some think of a good, hearty salad as dinner itself. We don't think about them much. We just eat them and love them; they are easy to make and delicious. They are appropriate all year but especially in summer.  Remember that with beans you can have a bean salad or you can make your favorite salad and add beans. They can be the star but they are perfectly happy accepting the supporting actor (or actress) role. You are the director. Lead them to greatness, please!

One nice trick is to dress the peppers and beans, put them in one container, and add them later to the greens, keeping everything fresh without wilting the greens. If you can, look for celery at a farmers' market or CSA, where the stalks are often sold with plenty of leaves attached. If you can't find celery with leaves, substitute another sturdy green, like escarole or frisée, or add extra celery instead.

A Recipe from Steve Santos owner of Rancho Gordo Beans and Legumes.

Scarlet Runner Bean, Red Pepper, and Celery Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked, drained Rancho Gordo Scarlet Runner, Ayocote Morado, or Ayocote Negro Beans
1 cup chopped roasted red bell pepper (jarred is fine)
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 large celery stalks, diced, plus about 2 cups of celery leaves, roughly chopped (see note)

1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 to 1 cup roughly chopped parsley
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Rancho Gordo Pineapple Vinegar or other mild vinegar (or to taste)
Serves 4
Directions:
In a bowl combine the beans, roasted bell pepper and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a serving bowl combine the celery, celery greens, Parsley, and onion, Add the oil and vinegar, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir well to combine

Add the bean mixture to the celery mixture and toss to combine