Stuffed Meatballs
It’s unclear who invented the first meatball, although many people believe that the meatball first originated in Persia where leftover meat was used to make a dish known as Kofta. It is supposed that from Persia the meatball spread throughout the Middle East to China. Some claim that Venetian traders brought the meatball to Europe through trade routes while others believe the Ancient Romans developed a similar recipe and deserve full recognition for the meatballs humble origin!Today, the meatball exists all over the world and is made from a variety of meat depending largely on what is readily available. The Chinese version for example is made from pork or fish, while the Middle Eastern and North African version is made from lamb. Swedish meatballs are a smaller version of their Italian cousins and served with cream sauce. Most Americans prefer meatballs made from beef although some cooks will make them from ground turkey. When served in Italy, meatballs are most often fried and eaten as a snack or served as a main course plain without sauce. Some traditional recipes recommend mixing a variety of ingredients into the meat such as chopped salami or mortadella. Other variations of meatballs include placing a small cube of fontina cheese into the middle of each meatball before frying. To make a meal of meatballs, they can be served them with an arugula salad or lightly sautéed vegetables including spinach or Swiss chard. For children’s meals, homemade French fries (patatine fritte) can be served as an accompaniment. When Italian immigrants came to America in the 19th and 20th centuries, they continued cooking up their scrumptious balls of meat. While they still continued to use the cheapest cuts of meat, people eventually started to experiment. They added more ingredients to complement the dish, such as canned tomatoes.As Italian immigrants began earning higher paychecks, they were able to refine their meatballs even further. Since affordability was not as much of a concern, they eventually started mixing more meat into their recipes, creating a much larger and denser meatball than their traditional polpette.Before long, they started combining it with marinara sauce and pasta, thus creating the beloved dish of spaghetti and meatballs. Today, this dish continues to be a popular choice for those seeking a flavorful, filling and affordable meal. You can also opt for different variants of meatballs, stuffed with vegetables, cheeses, wrapped in bacon or puff pastry. I opted for a variant of meatballs stuffed with cheese wrapped in bacon for the New Year's table and they are delicious, they will surely please the guests.
Ingredients
- 400 g ground beef
- 400 g ground chicken
- 200 g cheddar cheese
- 200 g bacon
- 40 g breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic
- fresh parsley
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and sauté in olive oil for 5-7 minutes. Let it cool and while the onion cools, cut the parsley, grind the garlic and add them to the meat. Add eggs, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to taste and mix. At the end, add the chopped onion and mix until we have a homogeneous composition.
- Cut the cheese into cubes. Form a ball of minced meat, put the cheese in the middle and then shape the ball so that the cheese does not come out. Wrap the meatball with a slice of bacon and do the same for the other meatballs.
- Place the meatballs on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake at 180 degrees for 40-45 minutes. While they are baking, turn them over to bake on all sides.
Notes
