It’s no secret that one of my favorite places in Seattle is Salumi, the charcuterie shop owned by Armando Batali (celebrity chef Mario Batali’s dad). I worked for a year in the building behind Salumi and became acquainted with pretty much everything on their menu. They are best known for their authentic salamis (hence the name) but I found their meatball and porchetta sandwiches to be two of their best. I’ve already done a post where I figured out (and hopefully improved upon) the porchetta sandwich. The meatball sandwich was my favorite of the two and also much more tricky to perfect. As I tried different variations on the recipe, it became clear that they were using some salami techniques into how they made the meatballs. I decided to do the same and I think that this is very close to their recipe. Either way, these are very delicious and make a hearty meal, either as a sandwich or with pasta.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1 lb – Pork butt or spare ribs, diced into 1” chunks

1/2 lb – Veal or lean beef steak, diced into 1” chunks

8 oz – Pork fat, separated

6 oz – Pecorino cheese, finely grated

3 Tbsp – Kosher salt (or to taste)

1 Tbsp – fresh ground white pepper

5 cloves – fresh garlic, minced

1 Tbsp – Fresh thyme, minced

1/4 cup – Fresh basil, minced

5 eggs

1 cup – bread crumbs

Chicken broth

For the red sauce:

1/2 – Large sweet onion, finely diced/minced

3 cloves – Fresh garlic, finely minced

3 Tbsp – Extra virgin olive oil

1 cup – Burgundy wine

2 cups – Tomato sauce (I prefer home canned but store bought will do)

1/2 cup – Tomato paste

1 Tbsp – Fresh thyme, minced

1/4 cup – Fresh basil, minced

2 cups – Chicken broth

salt and pepper

For the sandwich:

4-6 – Ciabatta loaves or 2-3 crusty baguettes

1/2 – Sweet onion, diced

1 – Green pepper, diced

2 cups – Red sauce

12-18 – Large Italian meatballs

8 oz – Fresh mozzarella (When I go to Salumi, I always ask for Gorgonzola instead of mozzarella, which I think has an almost magical mixture of flavors with the red sauce and pork)

3 Tbsp – Fresh basil, julienned

 

Begin by preparing the sauce (I think that all red sauces are best if they have a time to fully cool then be reheated upon serving). Heat a medium sauce pan on medium heat and add the olive oil. Once it is hot, add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onions are clear, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and cook down for another 10 minutes or until you can’t smell any alcohol coming from the pot.

 

Add the tomato sauce and paste with a cup of broth, stir well, lower the heat, and leave to simmer for at least an hour. During that time, add the thyme and stir occasionally.  Keep the sauce loose and thin by adding more broth as necessary. The sauce should simmer and meld into a smooth sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the sauce has cooked down (remember to keep it thin, if you run out of broth or it has enough salt then add water) add the basil and let cook for 5 minutes longer. Let cool.

Separate the pork fat in half. Dice half of the pork fat into 1/2 inch cubes and the other half finely into 1/8th inch cubes. Mix the diced pork, beef, garlic, cheese, thyme, pepper, the 1/2 inch fat cubes, and 2 Tbsp salt in a large bowl. Place in the freezer for 20 or so minutes or until the meat is near freezing and very firm. Take from the freezer and grind on fine grind.

Return to the freezer for 10 minutes then grind again (for a very fine grind)

Add the basil, eggs, and bread crumbs, and 1/8th inch fat cubes.

Mix well (I find it best to mix by hand).

At this point I heat a skillet and ball up a Tbsp. of the mixture to fry. I fry it on both sides (you can smash it down like a sausage patty to cook faster) until it’s cooked through. This is a test for salt and seasoning. The meatball should be a bit on the salty side (just a bit), if not then add more salt to the mixture, mix well, and fry a bit more. Once you are satisfied with the seasoning, heat a large pot with broth until simmering. Ball the meat mixture in large (3/4 cup) balls and drop in the broth. Cook until 150 degrees all the way through.

To eat the meatballs in sandwich form, sauté the onions and peppers in a large skillet with a little olive oil until softened.

Split the bread and lay slices of cheese and spoonful’s of the onion and peppers in the bottom, add 3 meatballs, top with sauce and basil.