Recipe: Fiola's Meatballs

(Abby Greenawalt)

Fiola -- Fabio Trabocchi's modern Italian trattoria in Washington, D.C. features food made with fresh, local ingredients. His meat balls are a modest, more traditional size, but pack a homemade goodness.

Fiola's Meat Balls

8 Serving

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground veal

? pound ground pork

3 garlic cloves

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

6 egg yolks

2 cup grated Pecorino Romano

6 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

3 cups white bread

3 cups cream

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt & Pepper

1 cup canola oil for sautéing the balls

Directions

1. Cook the garlic cloves over low heat in a small sauce pan using 3 garlic cloves and the 3 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil until soft and translucent. Set aside to cool down, and then press the cloves of the garlic with a back of a spoon.

2. In a bowl soak the bread in the cream until completely soaked.  You will need to turn it from time to time to allow the top part of the bread to be soaked as much as the bottom.

3. Place all the ingredients in a bowl, including the garlic with the oil and the soaked bread.  Fold all the ingredients well and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 mins.

4. Start to form small balls and place them in a baking sheet.

5. Place your tomato sauce in a deep baking dish (glass or ceramic) big enough to hold all of the balls. Set the oven at 250.

6. Sautée all the meatballs in two large sautée pans until golden; work in small batches, dry the excess of fat and fold in your tomato sauce. Once all the meatballs have been sautéed and incorporated to the sauce cover the baking tray with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 mins.