What makes “mondeghili”, Milanese meatballs, special is that they can be made using leftover meat like roast, boiled or braised meat, for example.
Difficulty: easy
Method: 40
Cooking: 5
Difficulty: easy
Method: 40
Cooking: 5
Place the sandwich bread in a bowl
Pour the milk over the sandwich bread and leave to soak until the bread is soft
Peel and chop the parsley
Mince the meat and place it in a bowl
Squeeze the softened bread and add it to the minced meat
Add the Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and an egg
Grate the lemon zest into the mixture
Chop a little nutmeg
Add salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything with your hands until all the ingredients are well combined
The mixture should be compact, not sticky but not too hard
With the mixture, make balls the size of a golf ball
Work them with your hands to give them a spherical shape
They must be very compact
Slightly crush the balls to flatten them both on top and below
Beat the eggs in a bowl
Put the breadcrumbs on a plate or baking tray
Dip the meatballs first in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs
Press the breadcrumbs together well
Put the clarified butter in a frying pan
Add the sage leaves
When melted, turn up the heat and add a few meatballs at a time
Turn the meatballs when browned
Finish cooking until golden brown on both sides
They should be golden brown on the outside but soft on the inside
When removing the meatballs from the pan, place them on paper towels to drain
Serve the meatballs placing them together in a pot or making individual portions
To respect the Lombard origin of the ‘mondeghili’, serve them with a well-structured and strong red wine like a San Colombano.
If serving the ‘mondeghili’ meatballs as an aperitif, a sparkling Franciacorta is perfect, or even be daring with a cocktail like a spritz.
Make and add the breadcrumbs to the meatballs a few hours in advance, storing them in the fridge until ready to cook.
You can also cook them in advance, they are delicious served at room temperature. This way, if you have guests over, you will avoid the unpleasant smell of fried food in the house.
Don’t forget to put in the sandwich bread soaked in milk, otherwise you will have hard and unpleasant meatballs.
Squeeze the bread well before adding it to the meat so that the mixture is not too liquid.
Check that the meatballs are well compacted, both when you are making them and when you add breadcrumbs, to prevent them from opening while cooking.
Do not make meatballs of different sizes as they need to be the same size to cook evenly.
The meatballs should be golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside: turn up the heat at the beginning of the cooking time to form a crispy crust and then turn it down towards the end so they don’t burn.
Keep the leftover meatballs in the fridge, covered: they are excellent the next day too, eaten warm, at room temperature, or heated in the oven.
If you did not use previously frozen meat, you can also freeze the meatballs and then thaw them in the fridge on the day they are to be eaten.
What makes “mondeghili”, Milanese meatballs, special is that they can be made using leftover meat like roast, boiled or braised meat, for example.
You can mince in cooked or cured ham, sausage or salami paste if you wish.
Chop half a clove of garlic with the parsley if you want a stronger taste.
Clarified butter allows cooking the meatballs in a fat that does not burn; replace it with extra virgin olive oil or seed, peanut, or sunflower oil.
In Milan, meatballs are served as an appetiser or aperitif. For a more refined service, you can plate the meatballs in individual portions, decorating them with a little mayonnaise and a piece of sage, fried together with the meatballs.
500 g leftover boiled or roast meat
1 egg for the filling
2 eggs for the breadcrumbs
1 lemon
100 g of sandwich bread
100 ml milk
30 g parsley
80 g grated Parmesan cheese
Nutmeg
200 g breadcrumbs
200 g clarified butter
2 sage leaves
Salt and pepper
To respect the Lombard origin of the ‘mondeghili’, serve them with a well-structured and strong red wine like a San Colombano.
If serving the ‘mondeghili’ meatballs as an aperitif, a sparkling Franciacorta is perfect, or even be daring with a cocktail like a spritz.
Ask your butcher for advice and whether the cut of meat you choose is rich in connective tissue and based on this you can adjust the cooking time.
This is a typical dish for special occasions in North Italy, meat braised in red wine owes its pleasantness also to the softness making it melt in the mouth because it is so tender.
