Great Leftover Meatballs
Polpette di lesso
Most modern households produce mountains of litter – and a lot of it is uneaten or leftover food. The amounts of waste are a strain on the environment and the private economy, which is why I try to copy the old fashioned Italian virtues of husbandry.
With a little skill, spice and imagination, leftovers can be turned into nice new meals that are just as good and sometimes even better than the first time round. That goes for lesso rifatto and for these meatballs made from cooked meat or leftover roast. They are absolutely delicious, and will ensure that every bit of meat from the day before gets eaten.
If you want more of a kick to the tastebuds you can spice the leftover meatballs like meatballs with coriander and chili or meatballs with orange and cinnamon.
Ingredients
200 g cooked meat
2 boiled potatoes
1 egg
1 clove of garlic
3 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano (or parmesan)
Fresh chopped parsley and sage
Grated nutmeg, lemon zest, salt, pepper
100 g dried bread crumbs
Oil for deep frying
Preparation
Chop the meat very finely with a knife
Mix with mashed potatoes, egg, crushed garlic, grated pecorino, lemon zest, herbs and spices.
Form the mixture into oblong balls
Roll each meatball in dried breadcrumbs
Deep fry the meatballs until golden brown
Place the leftover meatballs on absorbent paper for a couple of minutes before serving.
More polpette-ish recipes
Turning yesterday’s roast into tasty leftover meatballs
IF more food bloggers are doing this … RE-INVENT recipe from left overs, OR recipe with ‘what-to-do-with-left-over’ in mind!
I enjoy reading food blogs, at the sametime I feel guilty about so many people in this world with nothing to eat or die from ‘no-food’, and here we are trying to out-do each other to come up with something delicious. Instead of just treating food as something to sustain lives.
Presentation and visual appeal with leftovers is important. You nailed it with this photo.
These are fabulous! I made them last night, absolutely delicious. My “left-over meat” was the remains of a pasta bake made from previously left-0ver meat, so my meatballs effectively became “Left-over, left-overs”! But, best of all, because I’d finely chopped the courgettes and peppers that were in the pasta bake and rolled them up into the meatballs, the fussy eater from the night before (who’d painstakingly picked them all out of her pasta bake) ate them with her meatballs and was none the wiser! Ha!
I love this story, Jacqui:) It’s an art to make the most of what we’ve got and like it, and this seems to hit the nail on the head. I mostly make the polpette with leftover steak, and I wouldn’t hesitante to grate in some courgettes as well. They tend to make the meat more juicy.
Ohhhh, well you know Turkey so you’ll know that not a lot goes to waste here (amongst those who cook) in the way of food. Love the look of these leftover meatballs! Great idea that we’ll make use of. :)
Julia
Just remember to chop the cooked meat finely – without using the blender. I find that gives the best result, but I’m sure you could also mix the finely chopped, cooked meat with the normal ingredients for kadinbudu and make a very personal version of a Turkish classic.