The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers (45 page)

In a separate bowl, mix the onion, meat, parsley, Parmesan, egg, salt, pepper and the bready mush and combine well, using a fork or your hands.

Shape into balls about the size of a golf ball and roll them evenly in the breadcrumbs (no need for an egg dip here, as they should be moist enough already). Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a large frying pan or a wide saucepan, heat 5mm olive oil to shimmering point. The oil is hot enough when a breadcrumb dropped into it sizzles and floats on the surface rather than either sinking (not hot enough) or charring (too hot).

Add the meatballs in a single layer and fry gently until evenly golden and slightly crisp all over.

Then just pour the tomato sauce over them.

Bring the sauce to a bare simmer and cover the pan (I use the top of my wok for this). Leave for about 10 minutes to heat the meatballs through in the sauce. Serve with rice, couscous, pasta or flatbreads, and with extra Parmesan grated on top.

Mashed potato, lemon and garlic
If you have a little mashed potato left over, use it instead of the milk-soaked bread and add a squeeze of lemon and some finely chopped garlic to the meat mixture. Shape into balls, roll in plain flour or breadcrumbs and cook as on
page 145
.

Turkey meatballs with sweet and sour sauce
This has become an enduring post-Christmas supper in my house, inspired by a recipe in the book
Tony and Giorgio
by Tony Allan and Giorgio Locatelli (Fourth Estate, 2003). Follow the classic meatball recipe on the previous pages but use finely chopped cooked turkey and add a squeeze of lemon to the mix. Instead of the tomato sauce, fry 2 sliced onions very gently in 200ml olive oil with a bay leaf for 20 minutes or so, until meltingly tender. Soak 50g sultanas in warm water for 10 minutes, then drain and add to the onions with 100ml white wine vinegar. Simmer gently for 3 minutes and serve with the meatballs and rice or pasta.

Kofta, or kefta
These Middle Eastern meatballs are traditionally made with raw meat but you can make your own approximation with leftover lamb, using an electric chopper to make a fine mince or, in this case, a paste if you prefer. Mix with finely chopped onion, flat-leaf parsley, soaked bread and egg, as on the previous pages, but add ½ teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and allspice to the mix and leave out the Parmesan. A little very finely chopped red pepper sweetens the mixture beautifully. Form into balls, omitting the breadcrumb coating, and cook as above. If you don’t want to use tomato sauce, serve them as they are with a green salad, pitta bread and hummus, or yogurt and mint.

Turkish meatballs with spinach and chickpeas
If you’d rather dispense with the tomato sauce, here’s an alternative adapted from one of Claudia Roden’s recipes. Make and fry the meatballs as on the previous pages. Wash and chop about 500g spinach and cook over a medium heat in a large pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes, until just tender. Drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. Cook a finely chopped onion and garlic clove in butter until soft, then add the spinach with a drained 400g can of chickpeas and the meatballs. Add a little butter and enough stock barely to cover the meatballs, then cover and simmer for half an hour. Serve with plenty of chopped fresh coriander and some rice.

Beef balls with aubergine purée
Another Turkish dish, which fares better with the stronger flavour of beef and uses up a single aubergine left in the fridge. Bake the aubergine in a hot oven (or grill it) until the skin blisters and the aubergine is soft. Peel off the skin, then mash the flesh in a bowl with a fork. Cook a finely chopped onion and garlic clove in a little oil until softened. Add the aubergine flesh, a squeeze of lemon and a tablespoon of tomato purée and season well. Cook for 7-10 minutes, then add the fried meatballs and simmer for 5 minutes, until the meatballs are warmed through. Lovely with toasted flatbreads.

Asian meatballs
Leave out the tomato sauce entirely for this. Make the meatballs as in the main recipe, omitting the parsley and Parmesan and substituting ½ teaspoon of ground cumin, a good pinch of dried chilli flakes and some chopped fresh coriander. Shape into balls, shallow-fry in vegetable oil and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve with plain boiled rice.

Curry
Add a tablespoon of chopped fresh coriander and ½ teaspoon each of ground coriander and cumin to the meatball mixture, omitting the Parmesan. Shape into balls and fry as in the main recipe. Then cook a finely chopped onion in oil in a frying pan with a finely chopped garlic clove, a 2.5cm piece of ginger, grated, and a finely chopped small green chilli. Add a 400g can of chopped tomatoes, a squeeze of tomato purée and a pinch each of ground coriander, ground turmeric, ground cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes, then add the meatballs, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add a little water or stock if the sauce is too thick.

Stuffed vegetables
For a change, use the standard meatball mixture plus a bit of extra veggie flesh to stuff courgettes, aubergines or even tomatoes. For courgettes and aubergines, slice them in half lengthways and scoop out most of the flesh (with courgettes you will need to scoop out the seeds first). Chop the flesh finely and add to the meatball mix. If you prefer to use tomatoes, simply slice off the top, scoop out the flesh and add it to the mix with an extra tablespoon of breadcrumbs. Then just fill the vegetables up with the mix, drizzle with oil and bake for 10 minutes at 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Serve sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

Filo pastry
Brush 2 sheets of filo pastry with a little oil or melted butter, place one on top of the other and cut out an oblong about 8 x 12cm. Fill with about a dessertspoon of the meat mixture. Fold the sides in over the meat and then roll up, like a cigar. Repeat with more filo until you have used up all the filling. Brush with beaten egg and bake on a lightly greased baking tray at 200°C/Gas Mark 6 for 10-15 minutes, until the pastry has puffed and crisped. These are particularly nice with Chilli Jam (see
page 45
).