Spitini (skewers)
By Paola
This is an ideal recipe if you have some stale bread to use up. Preparing spitini (skewers) requires a real ‘assembly line’.
In fact, the typical phrase my grandmother used on these occasions was ‘my joys, many hands, God bless them’, and suddenly we found ourselves, willingly or unwillingly, with meatballs in our hands and, secretly, a few pieces of tuma cheese in our mouths!
To prepare them, you need a bit of good organisation and a pinch of goodwill… as well as the famous ‘busy little hands’ that my grandmother always needed, especially for this dish!
ingredients for 4 people
500 g breadcrumbs
500 g stale bread
350 g minced veal
300 g tuma cheese
150 g minced pork
100 ml milk
100 g Parmesan cheese
6 wooden sticks
3 eggs
2 onions
1 sprig of parsley
Olive oil to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
preparation
Mix the minced veal and pork with an egg, the fresh breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley, and season with salt and pepper. When you have a compact mixture, shape it into slightly flattened meatballs.
Cut the tuma cheese into 2 cm cubes, then cut the stale bread into 3 cm strips and soften it slightly in milk. Meanwhile, peel and quarter the onions, then beat the remaining eggs in a large bowl. Next, pour the remaining breadcrumbs onto a plate, take a wooden skewer and start by threading on an onion leaf, then a meatball, a piece of stale bread and a cube of tuma cheese until the skewer is full.
At that point, finish with an onion leaf. Once you have completed all the sticks, dip them in the beaten eggs and then in the breadcrumbs. Cook the spitini in a large pan in which you have heated some olive oil. When they are golden brown on both sides, place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil and serve hot.
Pair with a glass of Rinazzo Syrah
ingredients for 4 people
500 g breadcrumbs
500 g stale bread
350 g minced veal
300 g tuma cheese
150 g minced pork
100 ml milk
100 g Parmesan cheese
6 wooden sticks
3 eggs
2 onions
1 sprig of parsley
Olive oil to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
preparation
Mix the minced veal and pork with an egg, the fresh breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley, and season with salt and pepper. When you have a compact mixture, shape it into slightly flattened meatballs.
Cut the tuma cheese into 2 cm cubes, then cut the stale bread into 3 cm strips and soften it slightly in milk. Meanwhile, peel and quarter the onions, then beat the remaining eggs in a large bowl. Next, pour the remaining breadcrumbs onto a plate, take a wooden skewer and start by threading on an onion leaf, then a meatball, a piece of stale bread and a cube of tuma cheese until the skewer is full.
At that point, finish with an onion leaf. Once you have completed all the sticks, dip them in the beaten eggs and then in the breadcrumbs. Cook the spitini in a large pan in which you have heated some olive oil. When they are golden brown on both sides, place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil and serve hot.
Pair with a glass of Rinazzo Syrah
