Recipe: Meatballs

So this recipe made about 20 small to medium sized meatballs.  This is not how many I actually intended to make. I meant to get a pound of ground meat so I'd have enough meatballs for the next 2 or 3 days, however, I was still jetlagged when I went to the grocery store... or at least that is the excuse I shall be using... And I accidently ordered a kilo which is more than twice the amount I wanted.
Luckily I adapt well and was able to adjust my recipe accordingly. But I did wind up with about 20 frozen meatballs which will take me some time to finish. Actually, it's quite nice because on nights when I get home from work late, I can just reheat some meatballs in a pan and make a little pasta and I'll be set to go, although it would be better if I made some sauce as well (oh, well, one step at a time).
I'm only one person, so this recipe is actually great if you're cooking for a family or friends.  They are great on their own or even in a tomato sauce and they're pretty healthy because they're baked. And if you want to make them even healthier use ground turkey or chicken as a substitute for the ground beef.

my meatballs served with some salad on the side

Ingredients:
1 kilo (2.5 lbs) fresh ground beef
between 1/2 and 1 cup of bread crumbs
2 eggs
basil
red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic crushed and minced finely
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350°.
Place the ground meat into a large bowl. Use your hands to mix the eggs into the meat one at a time, alternating with about a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs at a time. Mix well and add in your spices, about a tsp each. If you don't like a lot of heat, you can absolutely omit the red pepper flakes.
If the mixture is looking a little dry, you can add a little bit of olive oil or another egg.  The mixture should be moist but not sticky, so if you see it is too wet, add more bread crumbs about a table spoon at a time.
Then roll the mixture into balls about the size of a small golf ball.  I made them on the smaller side so they would cook faster but you can also make them larger, just keep them in the over longer.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and then place the meatbals about an inch apart.
Bake turning the meatballs every 10 minutes or so, or as the sides begin to brown.
They should cook about 20-30 minutes.  Keep a close eye on them so they don't burn.
If you are also making sauce you can remove the meatballs as soon as they're browned on the outside and then you can finish cooking them in the sauce.

I have to say that these came out really well. They were packed with flavor and very moist. They were absolutely delicious and I'm quite glad I had so many leftovers.  I have my last 6 waiting to be eaten some time this week!!

Restaurant Review Rome: Taverna de Pasquino Pizzeria

La Taverna de Paquino 

A couple of months ago Endira was telling me about a really good restaurant right by her house, so finally one evening in November we decided to go so I could try it out. We'd walked passed it dozens of times on the way back and forth to the grocery store and to various other bars in her area, so I was extremely curious to see how it is.

Beautiful Table settings

From the outside you can see that it is quite charming and small,. It doesn't look like much surrounded by
graffitied metal, but it is worth a second look. It has a very old school feel with lots of wood. We decided to sit outside because of the lovely weather even though the entire was very clean with lovely low lighting and atmosphere.  The outdoor seating consists of a couple of tables under a couple of small trees that lend beautifully to the ambience. It is set up with umbrellas, lights, colorful tableware and menus. I thought it was quite fun.
The menu was small but had quite a nice range of

La Bruschetta

dishes, those traditional and slightly more un-traditional. We decided to share a couple of dishes: bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, cicoria ripassata (our favorite Roman vegetable dish), a traditional matriciana dish using bucatini and an untraditional veal meatball dish served in a lovely lemon sauce.
The bruschetta was quite good, simply done and very traditional but it packed a lot of flavor especially because the tomatoes were so fresh. Fresh tomatoes have such a lovely texture and flavor. They're not mealy or grainy but crisp and tender and the flavor bursts in your mouth with every bite.

La Cicoria

I was a big fan of the cicoria as well because it packed quite a lot of fresh flavor as well and wasn't overly
heavy on the garlic.
The matriciana was good but not my

The Matriciana was pretty good

favorite I've had since being in Rome. It was good and had a lot of flavor but the sauce was a little too runny for me. The sauce needed a little something to pep it up. Next time I go to the restaurant I would like to try one of their more non traditional pastas to see how it stacks up.

Veal Meatballs in a lemon sauce

My favorite part of the meal (and I think Endira would agree) were the veal meatballs. They were unique and amazingly light with a wonderful consistency. They were not dry even though they weren't cooked in the sauce. I'm not sure if they were baked or sauteed on the stovetop, but they were cooked perfectly and the slight gaminess of the veal was counteracted by the sweet and sour of the lemon sauce.
At some point I would definitely like to go back for the food and also because the waiters were quite friendly.

First Night out and Restaurant Review: Cul de Sac

Since getting to Rome Monday morning, I've been running around like a crazy person. I've been teaching and lesson planning and generally trying to get to know my surroundings. I was so tired and jetlagged that that's all I could manage.
So Wednesday night was my first official night out in Rome. I walked past the Colisseum and wandered to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. My friend has been living in Rome and suggested that we go to Cul de Sac, an awesome little restaurant behind Piazza Navona.  I'd actually been there once before with her about 2 years ago and I definitely had good memories of it.
I was very excited to go there again, to eat the food, but also because I get to blog about it too!

We got there on the late side so we had no trouble getting a seat. However, if you're going between 7 and 9 I'd recommend making a reservation since it's pretty popular and regularly crowded.  I love this restaurant for its convenient location (it's near some wonderful Roman piazzas) and because the prices are pretty reasonable.  The inside of the restaurant is relatively rustic with a nice casual feel that in part comes from the exposed pipes and ceiling pipes. The rest of the atmosphere I think comes from the sheer quantity of wine bottles on the wall. You cannot be unhappy with so much wine present. Also, the waitstaff is very helpful and very informative.

Their wine list is extensive and ranges in prices. The cheapest (and yet still fantastic bottle) is around €10 while the most expensive is quite up there. We decided to go with a €15 cabernet recommended by our server. It was light and a little sweet but quite delicious.

Oh, and let's not forget about the food!!

The food is non traditional Italian with lots of wonderful flavors that you won't necessarily find elsewhere.  In the past I've tried their pasta and so has my friend, and we both loved them. This
time however, Endira was in the mood for meatballs in a white wine sauce with mashed potatoes. I know, it sounds like an odd combination. However, these meatballs are some of the best I've ever eaten and they're presented quite simply on the plate. The meatballs are light and moist and baked while the wine sauce has a hint of sweetness from the wine but is not overpowering and adds a lovely balance to the dish since it really unites the meatballs with the mashed potatoes. Now, I know, Italy is not known for mashed potatoes in any way, shape or form. Italy is known for pasta and pizza, but these mashed potatoes are divine. In Italy, it is rare to find a mashed potato that is not too "pureed" down. Often they are too starchy or too liquid... But these mashed potatoes, mmm so good. They're reminiscent of home without being too "American." The flavoring and spicing with the white wine sauce very much say "Italian."
Ok, so, I really enjoyed that dish, even though it wasn't what I actually chose to order.
I decided to go for something a little strange as an entree. I didn't order a first (pasta) or a second (some kind of meat). I decided to get an appetizer and I'm quite glad I did. However, many of you will find this odd.  I had patè as an entree.
Yes, patè, liver...

Their unique patè list in English

Ok, most of you, at this point are thinking bleh, liver! But chicken liver is a specialty in Florence and I tried it there for the first time. I used to think, "Gross, who would eat that?" until out of politeness I finally tried it. It's actually quite delicious. Crostini toscani (bread with chicken patè) is served warm and creamy with a hint of sweetness that complements the saltless Tuscan bread.

3 kinds of patè

I haven't had patè in over a year since I was last in Florence and I had honestly never even stopped to consider that there would be other kinds of patè.  That is, until I saw this amazing menu. It has 8 kinds of different and unique patès. I loved the idea of these different flavors and decided to try a combo of patè; 3 patès for €10.80. I wanted to get this as a starter to share but Endira doesn't love patè and I figured I'd eat most of it alone, so why not just get 3 to try a few. I decided to try the more traditional liver patè with cognac, the pheasant patè with truffle and the venison patè with black peppercorn. The patè came served with toasted slices of Italian style bread, but it was a little too crunchy for me, so I ate my patè with the regular bread brought to the table at the beginning of the meal.
My favorite of the three was the pheasant probably because it was the most reminiscent of the Florentine. Pheasant is a small wild bird that is slightly more gamey than chicken. Prepared this way, it was light and not too dense with just a hint of truffle. I actually would have loved to taste more truffle in it, but I think this was a great balance so none of the flavors were too overwhelming. My next favorite was the liver patè with the cognac. It had a lovely sweet flavor that made me really happy. However, as I ate more the sweet flavor began to be all I could taste. I think it's best in small doses. My least favorite was the venison pate. It had a definite gamey feel that I didn't overtly mind but it was definitely denser than the other two. My only other issue with it was the peppercorn. It was only on one edge of the patè fortunately, but twice I bit into one. If you've bever bitten into a peppercorn, I don't know that I recommend it.  Pepercorns lend lots of flavor to a dish, but if you bite into them unexpectedly they pack quite a punch. One that I was frankly unprepared for. It was still tasty, but definitely not for someone who doesn't appreciate some kick.  I would try some of the other patès next time, but I think I'd like to go in a larger group to share a combo platter. The servings of patè were quite large and would make a great starter for a party of 4 that enjoys patè.
As for me, next time I may get the meatballs again since they were mouthwateringly good. Otherwise the duck ravioli seemed to sing my name too.

Afterwards, although we were both full, I couldn't resist ordering a dessert. For some reason, even though Endira and I both speak Italian very well, they kept giving us English menus. Now the savory portion of the menu was translated relatively well, the dessert was not even close. Here is what I recommend asking your server to explain the dessets. Some of them honestly sounded fascinating once our waiter told us what they were. Try the "coppetta incredibile" the English translation is something like "the house sundae". The menu does not offer a

La copetta incredibile

translation but after speaking to our waiter I decided that it would be worth trying for their homemade whipped cream alone.
As it turns out, this incredible cup has a layer of sweet cream, followed by a layer of freshly cut strawberries drizzled with some kind of beautiful sweet liquor. It is then topped with "marshmallow" puffs and home made whipped cream. On top of the whipped cream was a sprinkling of freshly ground pistachio. Oh my goodness, I think I just about died. This thing was light and airy and didn't weigh on the already full stomach but it was packed with flavor.  The cream itself was mild and the strawberries super fresh and dripping with flavor. The marshmallow puffs were not like the marshmallows that we roast over campfires or those that we put in hot chocolate. There are somewhat reminiscent of the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. However, they have a more grown up flavor that I don't quite know how to describe. Next time, I eat at Cul de Sac I'm going to ask exactly what they're called in Italian so I can find out what they are in English too. And their whipped cream was delicious and actually fresh. It was especially beautiful with that little added crunch of the pistachios.
Needless to say I really enjoyed that dessert. Also needless to say, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. So I must bid you adieu and goodnight. I have another long day of teaching ahead of me tomorrow!!