Spiedini Polpetta -- Kebobs of Meatballs and Onion

Instructions

Place both the beef and the pork into a large bowl. Add all other ingredients except the eggs. Mix well. The moist bread is made by soaking 2-3 slices of wet bread, crusts removed, in water. When soaked, squeeze as much water out as you can, then shred and add to the meatball mixture. Add eggs and mix. Check for moistness. If too moist, add some more breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. If to dry, add another egg and mix well again. When all is mixed, form the meat into meatballs about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Set the formed meatballs on waxed paper.

To form the kebobs, use medium length metal or bamboo skewers. Start with an Italian bread cube, and place that on the skewer. Then add a meatball, an onion cube, a meatball, another bread cube, a meatball, an onion cube, a meatball and a bread cube. Each skewer should begun and end with a bread cube and have between 2 and 3 meatballs on each skewer.

Dip each completed skewer into the egg wash containing the egg and water, then roll each skewer in the breadcrumbs, coating each fully. Allow to dry on a rack and then fry in olive oil until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Author's Comments

In Italy you will find volumes of recipes called Spiedini. Each region of locale has it own varieties. (This cookbook contain at least 5-6!) Almost any ingredient can be found forming the basis of the Spiedini. This recipe came across the Atlantic with my father’s Uncle Paul. Uncle Paul’s second love was cooking, and I can recall stories galore about his triumphs in the kitchen . . . Like the time he boned a turkey!!

From my cookbook: The "Old Country" Italian Cookbook, by Donald J.P. La Marca