Genoese meatballs in sauce
- liguriainthekitchen
Braised beef meatballs
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: 30 min
- Cook time: 15 min
- Serving: 8
- Cost: Average
- Note + 4 and a half hours for the braise
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PRESENTATION
Mondeghili are a Milanese meatball with a story behind every batch — this version, developed by Giuseppe Zen of Macelleria Popolare, starts not with raw ground meat but with brasato: slow-braised beef cheek, cooked without wine, then pulled apart and mixed with its own cooking juices, vegetables, aromatics, and toasted rye bread. The result is something closer to cucina di recupero than to any standard braised beef meatball you might expect — shaped slightly flat, coated in egg white and coarse breadcrumbs, and fried until the outside is crispy and the inside stays soft.
Serve them hot, as an appetizer or a second course, and they hit harder than their humble origins suggest.
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INGREDIENTS
- Ingredients for about 38 meatballs
- Extra virgin olive oil 2 ¼ tbsp (30 g)
- Fresh scallion 2 oz (60 g)
- Parsley 2 tsp (2 g)
- Rye bread 10.5 oz (300 g)
- Fine salt ¾ tsp (4 g)
- For the braise
- Beef cheek 1.8 lbs (800 g)
- Extra virgin olive oil 1.8 tsp (8 g)
- Tomato paste 1 tsp
- Oranges 1 slice
- Celery 1 cup (100 g)
- Onions 1 ½ cup (250 g)
- Carrots 1 ½ cup (200 g)
- Anchovies in oil 1
- Salted capers 4
- Dates 2
- Bay leaves 2 leaves
- Cinnamon powder 0.8 tsp (2 g)
- Fine salt 1 ¾ tsp (10 g)
- Ground black pepper 6
- Cloves 1
- Meat broth 1.7 cups (400 g) - Approximately 1 2/3 cups
- For breading
- Egg whites 5
- Breadcrumbs 4 ¼ cups (500 g) - coarse
- For frying
- Sunflower seed oil 4 ¼ cups (1 l)
Preparing the braise
To make the braised-beef mondeghili you must first prepare the Braised beef without wine. Heat a drizzle of oil in a pot. Add the tomato paste 1, the slice of orange 2 and the chopped soffritto 3. Let the vegetables toast for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, brush the beef cheeks with oil 4, then transfer them to a hot pan and sear 5 minutes on each side 5. By now the soffritto will have toasted, so you can also add the anchovy and the chopped capers 6.
Add the dates 7 and season with cinnamon. At this point place the seared beef cheeks 8 and flavor with bay leaves 9, the peppercorns and the crushed cloves.
Salt, pour in the beef stock 10, cover with the lid 11 and cook over low heat for 4 hours. After cooking time, set the meat aside 12.
Strain the braising juices through a sieve 13 and reduce them over heat 14 for 15 minutes 15.
Preparing the mondeghili
Toast the rye bread on a rack 16, then cut it into cubes 17. Clean and roughly chop the scallions 18.
Take the cooked Braised beef without wine and finely chop it with a knife 1920. In a pan pour a drizzle of oil, add the scallions, the slice of orange used for the braise 21 and sauté.
Add also the vegetables from the braise 22 and the toasted bread 23 then let the whole mixture stew over the heat for a few minutes 34.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the meat 25. Add the aroma of chopped parsley 26, moisten with the braising jus 27 – just enough to soften the mixture – and salt to taste.
Combine the mixture 28 without overworking it 29. At this point take portions of about 1 1/3 oz (38 g) each and shape the mixture into balls 30.
Place them on a tray 31 and press them slightly to obtain the typical flattened shape 32. Carefully dip each piece first in the egg white 33.
Immediately after, coat them in coarse breadcrumbs 34, pressing to make them adhere well 35. Heat sunflower oil in a deep pan and fry the mondeghili for about 4 minutes or until well golden 36.
Finally, remove the mondeghili from the hot oil 37, place them on paper towels 38 and sprinkle with salt before serving them very hot 39.
Storage
Tip
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