Here’s one more of my favorite Italian dishes. With good intentions, I meant to cook it this week and take a picture, but I caught a cold and have been living on chicken soup.
See my previous pasta diary for Linguine with Clams and Spaghetti with Canned Tuna Sauce.
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Italians traditionally combine a specific shape of pasta with a sauce, and this recipe specifies perciatelli, a long thin hollow pasta that I don’t see often. Substitute spaghetti.
Perciatelli with Meatballs and Tomato-Porcini Sauce
From Bon Appetit – for 6 or more
2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ large onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
¼ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 ½ 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes with added puree (about 4 ½ cups)
4 slices white bread, with crusts, torn into pieces
2 cups milk
¾ pound ground veal
¾ pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
¾ cup grated Romano cheese3 eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
olive oil for frying
1 ½ pounds perciatelli or spaghetti
additional grated Romano cheese
Place dried mushrooms in a small bowl. Pour 2 cups hot water over, soak 30 minutes to soften. Remove mushrooms from water; squeeze liquid from mushrooms back into bowl. Chop mushrooms; reserve liquid.
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add rosemary and crushed red pepper, stir 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and 1 cup chopped porcini. Pour in mushroom liquid, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the bowl. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the meatballs. Put bread in a medium bowl. Pour milk over. Let stand until bread is very soft, about 15 minutes. Squeeze milk from bread; place bread in large bowl. Add veal, sausage, ¾ cup cheese, eggs, rosemary, salt, pepper and remaining porcini. Using hands, blend the mixture thoroughly.
Pour olive oil into a heavy large skillet to a depth of ¼ inch; heat over medium-high heat. Working in batches, form meat mixture into 1 ½ inch balls; add to skillet. Cook until brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the meatballs to paper towel and drain.
Add meatballs to the tomato sauce. Simmer until meatballs are just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook pasta in boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to platter. Spoon sauce and meatballs over. Serve, passing additional cheese separately.
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What’s for dinner at your place?
Everyone here has good recipes, I know it! Please share some with us in a future WFD. Message ninkasi23 if you can.
