FORTY-FIVE : ROASTED EGGPLANT CROSTINI
FORTY-SIX : MEATBALLS (!!)
Oh meatballs, how I love thee. I want to eat you every day. Except that making Frankies meatballs requires a whole batch of tomato sauce, which has to simmer for hours. I had already made the sauce on the stovetop as the recipe directs, so I decided to make it a little easier on myself and used the crockpot this time. That way, I could go run errands as it bubbled away. It took a little longer, but was totally worth it.
This making of the Frankies meatballs, a momentus milestone in my journey, required a gathering to commemorate. So I took this opportunity to whip up the roasted eggplant crostini as well to feed our hungry guests.
My opinion of the eggplant crostini is... meh. The flesh of a roasted eggplant is mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper than piled on baguette slices (that have been brushed with parsley pesto and toasted). It tasted fine, a little plain, but looked icky. Grayish, slimy, glistening in the night. They all got eaten, but I was not that impressed. It needed something more... maybe a squirt of lemon juice or some chopped herbs.
 |
| grayish, slimy and glistening... yummmmm |
But the crostini were not intended to be the star of the show. That honor went to the meatballs and they did not disappoint. So good! And pretty easy. Mix together all the ingredients, form into "hand-ball sized meatballs", bake until firm and simmer in the sauce for 30 minutes. Then serve with a liberal sprinkle of grated pecorino romano. Man oh man. I love these meatballs! Perfect texture; not too spongy, not too firm. And soaked in the delicious tomatoey goodness. Damn!
 |
| meatball ingredients |
 |
| all mixed up |
 | |||
| baked hand-ball sized meatballs, ready to get saucy |
 |
| YUM!!! (with an eggplant crostini lurking in the background) |
Luckily I made double batch so we have left-overs (even after I put enough aside for the meatball sandwich and the leftovers lasagne). We even had a meatball for breakfast the next day, halved and topped with a fried egg and fresh tomato slices. Yu-mmy!
How did the raisins do? That’s the main ingredient I’m hesitant about using. Which raisins did you use? I’ve seen a mention of golden raisins being preferred.
ReplyDelete