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Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen
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Published: September 10, 2008
Authors: Mark Strausman and Pino Luongo
Mark Strausman will be one meatball short when he comes to the Bookmarks festival.
Pino Luongo, Strausman's co-author of Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen (Artisan, $35), couldn't make it because he had planned a getaway for his wedding anniversary.
"I can't pick on him because he won't be there," Strausman said. "But it will still be fun."
Strausman is a native of Queens, N.Y., who grew up surrounded by Italian-American cooking. Luongo is a native of Tuscany, Italy, who immigrated to New York in the 1980s.
The two have known each other for 20 years, and were business partners in the Coco Pazzo restaurant in New York. Currently, Luongo owns Centolire in New York, and Strausman is the managing director of Fred's, a brasserie inside Barneys department store, also in New York.
Strausman's and Luongo's different backgrounds form the heart of Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen, a book of 150 recipes and a few friendly arguments about how to make pasta, risotto and other Italian foods.
But the authors do agree on some things. "We agree that freshness is important, that seasonality is important," Strausman said. "Our cooking styles are different, but similar; we both come from country cooking."
The book combines Luongo's generally authentic, Tuscan dishes and Strausman's Italian-American adaptations and innovations. And chapters typically begin with a dialogue in which Luongo and Strausman compare and contrast their beliefs on a particular topic.
Luongo, for instance, pan-fries small meatballs and serves them with mushrooms, peas and mint, while Strausman simmers golf-ball size meatballs in tomato sauce. "Luongo doesn't like the size of my meatballs. And he thinks the dish is too heavy," Strausman said. "But I didn't make the meatballs big just to piss him off. I tried to follow a tradition of growing up in Queens."
Strausman also makes meatballs with turkey -- an idea alien to a native Italian such as Luongo.
For the most part, though, the book is not a game of one-upmanship. It's a dialogue in which each partner offers what he does best.
"Pino is the true Italian. Sometimes it's hard for him to step out of the mold," Strausman said. "And I'm not Italian at all. On certain things, I'm more Italian than an Italian. On other things, I'm more apt to twist them."
Other recipes in the book include Jerusalem artichoke soup with cumin, penne with veal and sage sauce, risotto with quail, lobster fra diavolo, grilled chicken livers with cauliflower ragu, and Neapolitan cheesecake.
Strausman said he hopes that readers will "understand that food is really serious but it shouldn't be taken too seriously."
"Italians, when they eat, they laugh. They have a good time," he said. "We want people to cook for their families and friends like Italians do, with a lot of zest and a lot of life."
Turkey Meatballs in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Recipe adapted from Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen. This is one of several meatball recipes in the book, an alternative to the standard Italian-American spaghetti and meatballs. Strausman said he likes the pairing of the mild turkey with the spicy sauce. Turkey meatballs tend to fall apart more easily than those made from pork or beef. Refrigerating them before cooking helps them stay together, as does the cheese and breadcrumb coating, which also helps give them a crunchy crust. Grana Padano is similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, but less expensive.
Meatballs:
2½ cups unseasoned breadcrumbs, divided use
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
4 ounces turkey bacon, minced
2 leeks, white part only, washed and minced
3 shallots, minced
1½ pounds ground turkey
1 pound turkey sausage, removed from casings and crumbed
2½ cups freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided use
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
Sauce:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup minced white onion
1 cup dry white wine
2 28-ounce cans Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, with their juices
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red-pepper flakes
1 cup loosely packed sliced fresh basil leaves (about 1 bunch)
½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread 1 cup of the breadcrumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring once or twice until golden, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely, then transfer to a large bowl.
3. Heat a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat, and when it is hot, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the bacon, leeks and shallots. Saute until the vegetables are soft and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. Add the ground turkey, turkey sausage, cooled leek mixture, 2 cups of the cheese, the eggs, egg yolk, salt and red-pepper flakes to the toasted breadcrumbs in the bowl. Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. Form the mixture into ping-pong-size meatballs. Place them on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
5. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Set aside.
6. Place the remaining 1½ cups breadcrumbs and remaining ½ cup cheese in a large shallow bowl or pie pan. Mix to combine. Roll the meatballs in the mixture to coat them, then return them to the plate.
7. Heat a 10- to 12-inch skillet over medium heat, and when it is hot, add the remaining 1 cup olive oil. Add the meatballs, in batches as needed to avoid overcrowding. Fry meatballs until just browned, about 2 minutes on each side. Remove the meatballs to the paper-towel-lined baking sheet.
8. For the sauce, place a 7- or 8-quart Dutch oven over medium-low heat, and when it is hot, add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the wine, tomatoes and red-pepper flakes.
9. Bring sauce to a simmer, then add meatballs and cook until the sauce thickens and the meatballs are cooked through, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
10. Add the basil and parsley and cook 2 minutes. Taste and add salt and red-pepper flakes as needed.
Makes 30 meatballs, for 6 servings.
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