I went to stay with my parents over Easter. The predictability of my mother cooking meatballs when we get together is, for me, one of life’s great comforts. I now make them for my own kids, and they always remind me of home. The secret to both meatballs and fishcakes is, I think, to cook them with grain, in the mix itself (as with the cod cakes’ breadcrumbs or the lamb’s bulgur) or in the pan (the fregola). Either way, it’s the grain that allows the flavour and moisture from the sauce or stock to be fully absorbed. This is what makes meatballs so full of flavour and big on moistness, and also allows them to taste as good – if not better – the next day.
Pappardelle with cod cakes in tomato sauce
Pappardelle are large, flat and broad pasta noodles. The name derives from the verb “pappare”, to gobble up. If you can’t get hold of them, use fettuccine instead. Serves six.
115ml olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground turmeric
700g cod, skinless and boneless, roughly chopped into 5cm chunks
60g fresh white breadcrumbs (about 2½ slices, crusts removed)
1 egg, beaten
20g preserved lemon skin, finely chopped (skin of 1 small lemon)
20g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
20g mint leaves, roughly chopped
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp harissa
600g chopped tinned tomatoes (ie, one and a half cans)
650ml chicken stock
2 strips shaved lemon skin
1 tsp caster sugar
600g pappardelle
Heat three tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high flame. Fry the onions for 10 minutes, stirring a few times, until golden brown and soft, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Transfer half the onion mix to a small bowl, then add the ginger and spices to the pan, fry for a minute, then spoon into a large bowl and set aside to cool down.
Blitz the fish in a food processor a few times (you want it to be roughly minced, not overworked), then add to the large bowl with the onion and spices. Using your hands, mix in the breadcrumbs, egg, preserved lemon, a third each of the parsley and mint, three-quarters of a teaspoon salt and a good grind of black pepper. Once the mix is well combined, form into 12 cakes, 6-7cm wide and 2cm thick.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high flame. Fry the fishcakes in two batches, cooking them for two to three minutes on each side, until golden-brown; keep the first batch on a plate while you fry the second in two more tablespoons of oil.
Return the onion and garlic mix in the small bowl to the pan, add the harissa and fry for a minute, stirring the whole time. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, lemon skin, sugar and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt, bring to a gentle boil and leave to bubble away for 10-15 minutes, stirring a few times, until the sauce has thickened.
Return the fishcakes to the pan with the remaining parsley and half of the remaining mint, and cook for five minutes, stirring gently now and again, then take off the heat and set aside.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil, then cook the pasta for 10-12 minutes, until al dente. Drain, return to the pan and mix with two teaspoons of oil.
To serve, divide the pasta between six shallow bowls and spoon over as much sauce as you like (the lemon skin can be discarded), top with two fishcakes per portion and sprinkle with the remaining mint.
Braised veal meatballs with fregola
This is one for a slow-cooking Sunday. Cooking them for a long time at a low temperature means the meat takes on so much flavour from the liquids in the pan. As a result, you don’t need anything else with this other than a plain green salad. Serves four.
350g minced veal
350g minced pork
50g fresh breadcrumbs
75g ricotta
50g finely grated parmesan
½ small onion, finely chopped
¾ tsp ground allspice
1 egg, whisked
3 tbsp oregano leaves, roughly chopped, plus 1 tbsp extra to serve
25g parsley, roughly chopped
2 lemons
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
400ml white wine
3 bay leaves
200g fregola or giant couscous
Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the first 10 ingredients a large bowl with the grated zest of half a lemon, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix to combine, then form into 14 balls, about 5cm wide and about 70g each, then set aside.
Shave off the remaining skin from the half-grated lemon, and cut it into thin strips. Put these in a bowl with two tablespoons of lemon juice. Cut the second lemon into quarters.
Heat the oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid on a medium-high flame. Fry the meatballs for seven to eight minutes, turning them over every once in a while, until they’re golden brown all over.
Pour over the white wine, 650ml water, the lemon strips and juice, bay leaves and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, cover and bake for an hour. Remove from the oven, stir in the fregola, then return to the oven for 30 minutes, until the fregola is cooked through and the sauce is thick. Give everything a final stir and serve hot with a final sprinkle of oregano and a wedge of lemon.
Lamb and bulgur meatballs with chard, sorrel and celeriac
If you can’t get hold of sorrel, just raise the amount of chard to 400g and increase the lemon juice to one and a half tablespoons to compensate for the lack of sorrel’s gloriously sour notes. Serves six.
75ml olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1½ tsp ground cumin
500g minced lamb
Salt
100g bulgur, rinsed
1 medium celeriac, peeled, halved and each half cut into six wedges
1½ tsp caraway seeds
1½ tsp paprika
350g swiss or rainbow chard leaves, left whole but any tough woody stems discarded
80g sorrel leaves, left whole
2 plum tomatoes, coarsely grated and skin discarded
1 tbsp lemon juice
In a large saute pan for which you have a lid, heat two tablespoons of oil on a medium-high flame, then fry the onion for about seven minutes, until golden brown. Stir in the spices and a teaspoon of salt, cook for a minute, then tip into a large bowl. Add the lamb and bulgur, mix well, and form into about 26 balls, each weighing about 30g.
Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan – there is no need to wipe it clean – and return it to a medium-high heat. Fry the meatballs in one batch for eight minutes, turning them regularly so they brown on all sides, then transfer to a plate – use a slotted spoon, so you leave the oil behind in the pan.
Add the celeriac to the pan, sprinkle with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and fry for eight minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown. Transfer the celeriac to a plate and wipe clean the pan.
Put the pan on a medium-high flame, add the final tablespoon of oil and fry the caraway, paprika and a third of a teaspoon of salt. Once the caraway seeds start to sizzle, add the chard and sorrel, cover, and leave to cook for three minutes, until the chard has wilted; shake the pan every now and again, to help it along.
Add the tomato, lemon juice and 400ml of water and, once boiling, reduce the heat to medium. Arrange the meatballs on top of the chard, so they’re half submerged, then spoon the celeriac on top. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to medium-low and carry on cooking, still covered, for another 20 minutes, until the sauce is thick.
If the juices are still a little watery after this time, take off the lid and leave the mix to bubble away and reduce for a few minutes, then take off the heat and serve at once.
Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.
- This article was edited on 18 April 2016. An earlier version mislabelled the second image. More significantly, a production error meant that the sentence describing the method for shaping the lamb and bulgur meatballs was missing. This has been corrected.
