Polpettini

Name: Polpettini (Tuscan meatballs)
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: oil for deep frying; ½ tsp nutmeg (optional ¼ tsp cinnamon); handful parsley, chopped; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 lb 2 oz/500 g cooked pork or beef, cut in cubes; 3 oz/75 g grated parmesan or pecorino; juice of 1 lemon; pepper; 4 sage leaves, chopped; 4 oz/100 g prosciutto (or ham); 2 eggs, beaten; salt; 2 potatoes, peeled and cooked

Tuscan meatballs

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A Table in Tuscany

By Leslie Forbes

Published 1985

About

Every country has its version of the meatball. In Tuscany they’re called POLPETTINI if they’re small. When, as often happens, they are almost the size of a meat loaf, they are called POLPETTONE. At the Locanda dell’Amorosa near Siena they serve tiny spicy polpettini, crunchily deep-fried, as a hot appetizer in the winter months.

Ingredients

1 lb 2 oz/500 g cooked pork or beef, cut in cubes

Europe
Italy
Starter
Mediterranean
Spicy
Tuscany
Winter

Method

Put the meat and potatoes through a fine grinder, mincer or food processor and then mix well with other ingredients. Form tiny round meatballs of a maximum 1 in/2.5 cm diameter and roll in cornmeal or, bet