Burrata Stuffed Nduja Meatballs With Parmesan Mash

Meatballs have been made in Italy since Roman times. Garrison cooks would stuff vine leaves with minced rabbit, hare, beef, lamb . . . well anything they could lay their hands on. To many meatballs are comfort food, homely, easy to prepare and delicious, an all-round crowd pleaser with adults and children alike.

The versatility of meatballs is astounding, you can eat them with pasta, alone in a sauce, in a sandwich, with polenta or mash potatoes, they can be spicy or stuffed, they can be simple or flavourful, almost anything goes.

I love stuffed meatballs, so in this recipe I stuffed them with delicious, creamy Burrata. Burrata is a fantastic, soft, fresh Italian cheese made from milk with a mozzarella shell and a mixture of cream and curds inside. Once you stuff a meatball with burrata, you will never go back, combine this with fiery, spicy nduja and you have a meatball of utter beauty.

Ingredients

For Meatballs

• 250g Beef Mince (Or Lamb Mince, Pork Mince, or a mix of Beef and Pork)

  
  

• 25g Nduja

  
  

• A few basil leaves

  
  

• A few flat-leaf parsley leaves

  
  

• 20g Parmesan, grated

  
  

• I00g Burrata

  
  

• 1 Egg

  
  

• Salt and Pepper

For Tomato Sauce

• 1 garlic clove, chopped

  
  

• 1 celery stalk, chopped

  
  

• 1 carrot, chopped

  
  

• 1/2 onion, chopped

  
  

• 1 Tin of tomato passata (I used Mutti Polpa already flavoured with basil)

  
  

• Basil leaves

  
  

• Salt and Pepper

  
  

Parmesan mash to serve.

To Make . . .

1. Start with your tomato sauce. A good tomato sauce needs time to reduce and cook down, so this a the best place to start.

   
   

2. Place a pan on a medium heat, add a glug of olive oil, then saute the garlic, celery, carrot and onion (Soffrito), for a few minutes till softened but not coloured.

   
   

   

   
   
   
   

3. Add the tomato passata (or tinned tomatoes) and simmer low for around an hour.

   
   
   
   

4. While the tomato sauce reduces, make your meat balls. In a bowl place the mince, grated pamesan, egg, nduja and chopped herbs and mix together well.

   
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   

5. Carefully shape into your meatballs, ideally with wet hands as this makes the job much easier.

   
   

   

   
   

6. Once your meatballs are shaped, make a dent with your thumb in each one and place a spoonful of burrata in the centre.

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8. Pinch the mince over the burrata and seal it inside. Wet your hands again a little and shape the meatballs round again.

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10. By now the tomato sauce should be reducing nicely. Place your meatballs in the tomato sauce, reduce to a steady simmer, cover with a lid and cook till the meatballs are cooked through.

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12. Once the meatballs are cooked through. Spoon your parmesan mash (or polenta) into centre of a plate. Place your cooked meatballs on top then drizzle with tomato sauce, grate some parmesan on top and enjoy.

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