Polpette di lesso

I may have posted this before, but it merits reposting, since it is such a good basic idea. You have to understand that Italians are cheapskates. We let the Scottish get the blame, because it is always fun to point the finger at someone else, but when it comes down to it, we give them a run for their money. We are instinctively opposed to wasting food. Back in the living memory of my family, we simply could not afford to waste anything.

Because the main ingredients for food were scarce, but not the things that make them tasty (garlic, herbs, etc.), we have some amazing recipes for leftovers. They are so good that folks now make dishes just to use them in our leftover recipes. These meatballs are a good example of that.

Most meatballs are made from raw meat. These, however, were designed to come up with a good way of using cooked meat, from a leftover roast or some other dish.

Tonight I did them with leftover leg of lamb (and, yes, the bones are right now simmering in the stock pot for lamb stock - good for lamb sausage risotto).

I am giving you the recipe for what I did tonight, but it can be done with any cooked meat (and even mixed meat. I have had good results with chicken, pork and beef mixed up with leftover sausage and whatever meat sauces I had sitting around - beurre rouge is particularly good in these).

I started by chopping the leftover lamb, including bits that were a little tough, but could be chopped fine enough to overcome any residual toughness. I also boiled a few red potatoes (any waxy variety will do, and a russett will do in a pinch). Normally I mash the potatoes, but this time I left chunks. They went in the mixing bowl with the chopped lamb. I added the finely chopped zest of a meyer lemon (Eureka, Lisbon, or any other will do fine), the same herbs I used in roasting the lamb, a couple of eggs, a generous amount of grated reggiano parmigiana, some crushed garlic, a little bit of pan juices and fat from the lamb sausages we had the other night, and some fresh cracked pepper.

While I did not use sage in the roast leg of lamb, there is something about that flavor that is essential in these meatballs. In fact, they can be done with just sage, if that is all you have or want to use. I kneaded the mixture to make it as even as it would be.

I made little balls (more ovoid, kind of like owl turds), coated them in breadcrumbs, and fried them gently in olive oil. When done, they can be sprinkled with a little sea salt. I served them with a simple green salad and a Bourdeaux (I would have served Nerello del Bastardo or a Super Tuscan, but I changed my mind when I saw this particular wine in the wine "cellar" - a humble closet under the staircase).

For a simple meal to use up leftover meat, these cannot be beat.