Who doesn’t love meatballs? I’d venture to say that some vegetarians have dreams about them. I made dozens and dozens of them trying to get this recipe perfect. We had spaghetti with meatballs, meatball sandwiches, meatballs in the refrigerator, meatballs in the freezer. But all this hard work paid off. This is one of the best meatballs you are ever going to eat, even better than your Italian Nana makes (but don’t tell her—you might hurt her feelings—or she might have your cousin Guido come after me).
You can serve these as an appetizer, a main dish, or served over pasta. They are perfect for those on a Keto diet, either as is, or served atop a pasta substitute. For this presentation I topped them with small rounds of provolone cheese. You can forgo the cheese if desired or simply top with shredded mozzarella or provolone.
KETO DIETERS: Simply replace the bread in the recipe with a low-carb or Keto bread.
Making homemade meatballs is easier than you think, and quite fun!
I prefer my meatballs baked, though you may pan fry them in oil if you prefer, which will yield a darker, crustier exterior. A mini muffin pan is ideal for baking, providing even cooking. If you do not have one, a baking sheet works fine.
Once you get your meatballs in the oven it’s time to make your marinara. It’s really simple, but feel free to use your favorite jarred sauce.
After the meatballs and sauce are ready, it’s simply a matter of adding the meatballs to the sauce and topping them with cheese. I recommend using a half-quantity of my Marinara recipe. Save the rest for pasta or some other use. It freezes beautifully.
The last step is to place the cheesy meatballs under the broiler to melt and slightly brown the cheese. Aren’t they a thing of beauty?
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This recipe idea came to me when I was writing Death in Abundance, the third Antonio Cortese Mystery novel set in beautiful Montepulciano, in Tuscany. In the novel, Antonio’s aunt prepares these amazing Lamb Shanks, and the family gathers around to make homemade pici pasta. Once the lamb shanks are done cooking, she adds tomato paste to the braising liquid to create this amazing pasta sauce!
If you want to know more about my novels check out my author website … frankcurtiss.com
WHAT IS PICI? Pici is a thick, rustic pasta rolled out by hand. You can easily substitute dried bucatini pasta, or any other pasta shape that you like.
If you are on a Keto Diet you can forego the pasta or substitute zucchini zoodles, spaghetti squash, or hearts of palm pasta, available at Trader Joe’s. I only made two lamb shanks, but the sauce would easily accommodate up to six servings of pasta.
BRAISING EXPLAINED: Not all home cooks understand what braising is. It is simply the process of cooking the meat for an extended period in liquid which tenderizes the meat. In my view, it is the only way to cook a lamb shank which is otherwise a tough cookie so to speak. Meats are almost always browned in advance to maximize flavor.
PREPARATION TIME: Braising is a slow-cooking process. With that in mind you need to allow for a long cooking time, typically about three hours in the oven after you brown the meat. Additionally, you need time for your mis en place, the assembling and preparation of ingredients, such as cutting up the vegetables and herbs. This could take an hour if you’re extra fast with the knife. If you throw in the time for browning the meat and then allowing the meat to rest after it comes out of the oven, you’re looking at a total of about five hours give or take.
But remember you’ll have plenty of time to do other things while the meat is in the oven. You can make fresh pasta if desired, or skip that and read a book, watch a movie, or play a game of cards. You only need to stop once and turn the meat over to ensure it cooks evenly.
MIS EN PLACE is simply the French term for everything in place. In other words, assemble all your ingredients, then do any pre-preparation such as slicing, dicing, mincing, etc. This will make the job so much easier. In this case, the first thing you should do is place your meat out at room temperature and salt liberally before doing the other assembly and prep. Then if you are using dried mushrooms, place those in a cup or bowl with about a cup of hot water to rehydrate them.
Next, you want to brown the lamb shanks. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large, flat-bottom Dutch Oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until oil begins to shimmer. Brown lamb shanks well on all sides and transfer to a platter. I really like this enameled cast-iron braising pan I bought at Costco! If you have more than three to four shanks, you’ll need to brown them in two batches.
After browning the shanks, reduce heat to medium and add additional olive oil if needed. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and herbs. Sauté, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to caramelize, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add mushrooms with their liquid.
Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 325 F (or slow-cooker if you prefer).
Add the wine and chicken stock. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the pan bottom (this step is known as deglazing). Simmer until liquids are reduced by about a quarter.
Now, use your hands to squish the whole plum tomatoes and add them to the sauce. Careful or they will squirt juice in your eye!
Next, return the shanks to the pan and turn to coat all sides. Cover and place in the oven for approximately 3 hours, or until a knife inserted into the meat meets no resistance. After 1-1/2 to 2 hours, flip the meat over (see Frankie’s Tips).
When the meat is fully cooked you will see it pulling away from the bone. Transfer the meat to a platter and cover with foil to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. While meat is resting move the pan of sauce back to the stovetop. Add tomato paste to the sauce to accomplish the thickness you desire. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.
Here is the recipe for the lamb shanks. Then if you want to make the pici pasta, you’ll find that recipe below.
Ingredients:
Procedure:
One lamb shank per person (see Frankie’s Tips)
salt & pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 medium onion—diced
2 medium carrots—diced
1 to 2 ribs of celery—diced
3-5 cloves garlic—minced
3 sprigs Italian parsley—chopped
2 sprigs fresh rosemary—chopped
1-1/2 cups Tuscan red wine (see Frankie’s Tips)
2 cups chicken stock
28 oz. can whole-peeled plum tomatoes
3-5 ounces tomato paste
Recipe of homemade pici pasta or one-pound dried bucatini or pasta of choice.
Frankie’s Tips:
I recommend one lamb shank per person. This may be more than most people will eat but the leftovers are superb!
You can use any red wine but for authenticity I suggest a Tuscan Sangiovese. In my novel they used a Rosso di Montepulciano but that they be hard to find unless you have an excellent wine shop nearby. Any Sangiovese, such as an inexpensive Chianti, will do fine.
I went to three stores looking for porcini mushrooms. All of them were out of stock or did not carry them. I settled on dried oyster mushrooms which were still quite acceptable, but I would use porcinis if you can find them.
If you are making your own homemade pici pasta I would start it as soon as your lamb shanks go into the oven. You will find the recipe on the following page.
Salt and pepper lamb shanks on all sides. Allow to sit at room temperature for about an hour.
Place dried mushrooms in 8 ounces of hot water. Set aside to rehydrate.
Prep all ingredients (a step the French call mis en place).
Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large, flat-bottom Dutch Oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until oil begins to shimmer. Brown lamb shanks well on all sides and transfer to a platter.
Reduce heat to medium. Add additional olive oil if needed. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary and half of the parsley (save remainder for garnish). Sauté, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to caramelize, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add mushrooms with their liquid.
Pre-heat oven to 325 F (or slow-cooker if you prefer).
Add wine and chicken stock. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the pan bottom (this step is known as deglazing). Simmer until liquids are reduced by about a quarter.
Use your hands to squish the whole plum tomatoes and add them to the sauce. Return the shanks to the pan and turn to coat all sides.
Cover and place in the oven for approximately 3 hours, or until a knife inserted into the meat meets no resistance. After 1-1/2 to 2 hours, flip the meat over (see Frankie’s Tips).
Move meat to a platter and cover with foil to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. While meat is resting, add tomato paste to sauce to accomplish the thickness you desire. Taste sauce and add salt and pepper as needed.
Enjoy your meal with joy, laughter, and a heart of gratitude for all your blessings. Buon appetito!
This rustic, hearty pasta from central Italy is super fun and easy to make. It is not an egg pasta. It has a mere four ingredients (or five if you choose to use two types of flour as some do). It is perfect with a Tuscan meat sauce, or with Pasta all’Amatriciana from the town of Amatriciano in Lazio. It is a fun group project so if you have the counter space, I suggest making it with friends or family. They’ll love it!
It will be even more fun if you put on some Italian music and open a bottle of Italian vino!
PRONUNCIATION: But I won’t let you make this pasta unless you know how to pronounce it, haha! You might embarrass yourself in front of friends.
It’s simple. The i’s are pronounced like longs e’s and the c is pronounced like a ch. So, the pronunciation is pee-chee, with a slight emphasis on the first syllable.
If you don’t want to make the pasta, or drive all over town looking for it, feel free to substitute another pasta that you like. My favorite for this would be dried bucatini pasta which is about the same thickness but hollow on the inside like a straw. I did find pici online but mostly for outrageous prices. So, let’s just get busy and make our own. The recipe I am giving you is for the food processor. You can do the same thing in a mixer using the paddle attachment, or if you’re more adventurous, watch a video on how to mix it by hand. That is more than I want to cover here. Maybe in a future post.
I neglected to get pics of making the dough. I’ll let you read that in the recipe below.
The first picture above was taken after I made it. I allow it to rest in a plastic bag for 15-20 minutes. Next, I pull it out, cut off some strips, and return the remaining dough to the bag so it does not dry out. Then I take those strips and roll them out to roughly the thickness of a normal size drinking straw. The third photo only shows one hand because the other hand was holding the camera. Two hands are better of course. You can also lift these up to roll them between your two hands. Don’t worry about perfection. You’ll have some slight variations in thickness. I like to say, “Rustic is cool!”
As you roll these out set them aside on a floured baking sheet or countertop. If they are going to touch or overlap, make sure they are well floured or they will stick together. Continue until all dough is used up. There is no rush to cook them. You can use these right away, or let them sit for a time. It won’t hurt them. Or feel free to freeze them for later use.
COOKING PICI: Pici pasta cooks like any other fresh pasta, meaning it will cook quite a bit faster than dried pasta. It should only need two to four minutes depending on just how thick you rolled them. This is a lot of pasta, so I recommend cooking half at a time and use a skimmer or tongs to remove.
The recipe below will serve 6
Ingredients:
Procedure:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour* *(or 2 cups all-purpose flour and one cup of semolina–see Frankie’s Tips)
1 teaspoon kosher salt or fine sea salt
3 teaspoons olive oil
approximately 1 cup warm water (see step two of instructions)
Frankie’s Tips:
The objective is to achieve a dough which has an adequate level of moisture without being too wet. If you’ve never made dough before, it is better to err on the side of slightly too much moisture as the dough will be easier to work with. However, this will require more flour on your work surface and a longer drying time before cutting.
Just work the dough enough to bring it all together. Overworking will create tough pasta.
When rolling these out it is easier if you have little or no flour on the work surface. Too much will make them difficult to roll (as opposed to sliding around in the flour).
Some people like to use part semolina flour which is the flour used to make dried pasta. It will give a more yellow to the dough which is fine. If you want to try it, make sure it is finely ground. It costs more and can be hard to find.
Place flour, salt, oil, and 3/4 cup warm water in a food processor.
Process for about 15 seconds. Stop the food processor and feel the dough. It should begin adhering together when squeezed between your fingers (but not be wet and sticky). If the mixture has not begun to form a ball – gradually add a little more water, about a tablespoon at a time. Continue processing in short bursts until the mixture just begins to come together as a ball.
Remove mixture from processor and place on a lightly floured work surface. Squish it together then knead with the ball of your hand, turning and folding until the dough is smooth and elastic. Press into a rectangle, no more than one inch thick. Place in a plastic bag, or wrap with plastic wrap.Set aside to rest for at least 20 minutes.
After resting, use a knife or pizza cutter to cut strips of dough (keep the remainder covered until needed). Take the strips and roll them on the work surface or between your hands to make long strings of dough. They should be fatter than spaghetti but no thicker than a straw. Set these aside on a floured tray or countertop. Continue until all dough is used up.
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Fiorentina refers to in the style of Florence, or Firenze. I featured this dish in my novel, Missing in Firenze, where it is prepared for the family in fictional Enzo’s Trattoria. Technically, stracotto translates as overcooked. In a way this dish is, because with braised dishes they are often cooked extra-long to tenderize the meat. You can use any cuts of roast beef for this (see Frankie’s Tips).
It turned out great–tender and flavorful–because that is what braising accomplishes for you. I used a Dutch Oven to brown the meat and vegetables and then transferred it to my Ninja Slow Cooker for the braising. I could just have easily transferred the Dutch oven to a low oven for the long braise.
By the way, this is a perfect dish for those of you on a Keto diet!
Before we go further, here are some images of Firenze for your enjoyment! The one on the top left was the trattoria on which I modeled the fictional Enzo’s Trattoria.
The first thing I did was generously salt & pepper the meat and set out to allow it to come closer to temperature.
Next, I gathered and pre-prepped all of my ingredients. This is an important habit to get into. It makes the rst of the job far easier!
The next step was to brown the meat well on both sides. Getting a good browning is one key to great flavor. A Dutch Oven is perfect. If you don’t have one, use a cast iron skillet or other heavy bottom pan. Cook on medium-high heat. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside.
Next, reduce heat to medium. Add additional olive oil if needed. Add mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and herbs. Sauté, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to caramelize, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the wine and use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the pan bottom (this step is known as deglazing). Simmer until wine is reduced by about half. Add the stock and stir well. Then return the meat to the pan. Bring to a boil, then cover.
I wanted to finish mine in my Ninja Foodi on slow cook, so I transferred the vegetable mixture into that pot and added the meat. Otherwise, just place the meat back into the Dutch Oven and cook in the oven at 325 F. for about three hours, or until a knife inserted into the pan meets no resistance. Turn the meat over about halfway through the cooking.
Once fully cooked, move the meat to a cutting board and cover with foil to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
While meat is resting, liquidize the sauce with a hand-held blender (or transfer to a blender or food processor). Taste sauce and add salt and pepper as needed.
Slice the meat and serve covered liberally in the sauce with good rustic bread to sop up the juices.
Smile and pat yourself on the back for a job well done! Thank God for his goodness as shown in this wonderful meal you are about to partake of.
4 servings or more depending on the size of the roast.
NOTE: Quantities below vary depending on the size of the roast you use.
As mentioned in the intro, this dish is featured in my Antonio Cortes Mystery novel, Missing in Firenze, where it is prepared for the family in the fictional Enzo’s Trattoria, along with many other mouthwatering dishes. Books may be ordered on my author website: www.frankcurtiss.com
Ingredients:
Beef Roast of your choice – two to five pounds (see Frankie’s Tips)
salt & pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
4 to 6 ounces mushrooms—sliced thick
1 to 2 medium onions—diced
1-2 large carrots—diced
1 to 2 ribs of celery—diced
3-5 cloves garlic—chopped
2 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme—chopped
2 to 4 sprigs fresh rosemary—chopped
3-6 leaves fresh sage—chopped
2 to 3 bay leaves
1-1/2 to 3 cups red Tuscan wine (see Frankie’s Tips)
2-4 cups beef stock
Rustic bread (optional) for sopping up the juices.
You can use any cuts of roast beef for this, from a fine rib roast to a tri-tip, to a humble chuck roast which is what we used. Ours was only about two and a half pounds because it was for two of us. But you could easily do a five-pound roast using the same method. Simply adjust your other ingredients as needed. It does not need to be exact.
You can use any red wine but for authenticity I would suggest a Tuscan Sangiovese such as a Chianti. The higher end roast that I cook, the higher quality wine I would use.
I browned my meat and vegetables in a Dutch Oven, then transferred to a Ninja to slow cook to save energy. I failed to turn my meat during cooking and the bottom was a little overcooked. Next time I will flip it over about halfway through.
Procedure:
Salt and pepper beef on both sides. Allow to sit at room temperature for about an hour.
Prep all ingredients (a step the French call mis en place).
Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large, flat-bottom Dutch Oven. oval casserole, or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until oil begins to shimmer. Brown the beef well on all sides and transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add additional olive oil if needed. Add mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and herbs. Sauté, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to caramelize, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the wine and use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the pan bottom (this step is known as deglazing). Simmer until wine is reduced by about half.
Pre-heat oven to 325 F. (or slow-cooker if you prefer).
Add the stock and stir well. Then return the meat to the pan. Bring to a boil, then cover. Place in the oven for approximately 3 hours, or until a knife inserted into the pan meets no resistance. After 1-1/2 to 2 hours, flip the meat over.
Move meat to a cutting board and cover with foil to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
While meat is resting, liquidize the sauce with a hand-held blender (or transfer to a blender or food processor). Taste sauce and add salt and pepper as needed.
Slice the meat and serve covered liberally in the sauce with good rustic bread to sop up the juices.
I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe. It’s really delicious! Buon appetito!
To subscribe to my food blog, Frankieinthekitchen.com go to the top left of the home page. By subscribing, you’ll never miss any of my fabulous recipe postings.
Ciao amici! With Easter coming early this year I wanted to post this in time for you to consider making it for your Easter brunch or dinner. It is well worth the effort involved.
This is not really a pizza in the traditional sense. It is often referred to as a torta, which I think is more accurate. In Naples and southern Italy it is traditionally served on Ash Wednesday and again on Easter so it is also known as Easter Pie.
This dish is very unique in that it combines a sweet, tender, egg pastry dough (what the Italians call pasta frolla) with savory fillings such as prosciutto, salami, eggs, and a blend of cheeses. The sweet-savory combination comes alive in your mouth. It is one of my personal favorites.
If you are having a party or an Easter brunch, and don’t mind going to a little trouble—this delightful, unusual dish will impress your guests like few others. It looks gorgeous. It’s delicious. And it tastes unlike anything they’ve ever had before. We made it for one of our Frankie’s wine dinners and it was one of the most popular dishes we’ve ever served. It may be served hot or at room temperature.
This recipe is is my cook book, but for those who do not have a copy I wanted to post it here. This would be a great recipe for Christmas Eve or New Year’s or any time you want to impress your friends or family. And it really is fairly easy to prepare. No special skills needed!
I tried many different recipes before developing this one. I took the best from each and developed my own recipe which I think tops them all.
Marsala is a fortified wine from the Island of Sicily. It comes in a “sweet” or “dry” version. The recipe calls for Sweet Marsala, but I’ve used Dry and liked it just as well. It is just slightly less sweet.
If you are on a Keto diet, this recipe is easy to modify. Simply substitute a Keto friendly flour such as almond flour for the regular flour. You’ll notice little difference.
Frankie at Home in the Kitchen 