CHLOE’S RECIPEINGREDIENTS serves 4500g lean minced beef+ SOOgminced pork + bOg nearly statewhite bread, moistened in 60m1milk+ 1 small egg+ 120gParmesan, finely grated +1 largehandful flat-leaf parsley, finelychopped +1 garlic clove, grated4 2tbsp extra virgin ollve oil 14ltsp salt+ ltsp bone marrow(optional) +1 large handftit ofbasil leavesTomato sauce: 2 x 400g tinstomatoes 4 50m1-lOOml stock+1 small glass red wine +2garlic cloves, crushed+ Y2tSpsugar+ Y2tsp salt+ 30m1 extravirgin olive oil black pepper41 dried chilli (optional)

METHOD Ste” 1 Thetomato sauce: In a large fryingpan, add a glug of olive oil, thensizzle the crushed garlic. After aminute or so, pour in the wineand let it simmer off a little. Thenpour in the tomatoes, salt, sugar,stock and chilli. Simmer on [owheat for 40mm to 1 hour,reducing to a rich sauce. Tasteand season. Remove the garlic.Blend the sauce.St 2 In a small bowl, combinethe bread and milk. Set aside tosoften. Squeeze most of the milkout and combine it with the beefand pork, egg, bOg Parmesan,parsley, garlic and the bonemarrow if using (its easy to make:bake the bone for 3Omins in theoven at 125C, then scrape it out).Season. Allow the mix to rest.Step 3 Test by cooking a tinybit of the meat mix in a fryingpan. Taste and add moreseasoning if necessary. Form 12large, round meatballs.Step 4 Add some olive oil to afrying pan on medium heat. Popthe balls in the pan, frying gently,making sure they carameliseevenly for about 10mm. Pour thetomato sauce into the pan, popthe lid over and let it simmer ona low heat until they’re cooked.Sttp S Serve the balls andgarnish with the remainingParmesan and fresh basil leaves.Eat with bread, mash or spaghetti.

VIE I ItP luesu rIuvember I. LJ I

Chloe Scott teststop recipes to cook

the ultimatemeatba [Is

— HEN the public

•goes into a frenzyover somethinglike a meatball, itmay be annoying

to us jaded foodie observers but ameatball can be a damn good thing.’

So says chef and food writerAnthony Bourdain — and he’s right.While an enormous dry meatball isunderwhelming, a moist and flavour-some one is an exciting experience.Which is why you’ll find officeworkers in India eating them as

• koftas, Stockholmers ordering köttbullar with lingonberries and NewYorkers chowing on Italian meatballswith spaghetti.

The quality of meat and choice ofanimal — pig, cow, bird, sheep, deer —

means there are almost infinite possibilities. I need to narrow down mychoices for testing and beef with porkis the classic combination.

I also try beef on its own, as recommended in Omar Allibhoy’s albóndigas en salsa in Tapas Revolution

• (Ebury), and a veallpork blend fromthe polpette recipe in Jacob Kenedy’sBocca cookbook (Bloomsbury) but Ifind these beef-only ones miss thepork fat.

It’s worth noting that Chez Panissechef Alice Waters makes hers withbeef and minced pork shoulder, ajoint with a generous helping of delicious collagen. As meatballs are traditionally food for working folk, Ilike the plain old beef (chuck cut)with pork, especially as the veal/porkversion I make loses the benefitsof rose veal’s sophisticated flavourand texture.

There are plenty of theories abouthow to get the heady lustrous texturewe all hanker for. I don’t like meatballs that break apart on cooking, or

equally dry ones. Both Kenedy andAllibhoy soak bread in milk to addressthis. Egg is used by everyone fromthe late Marcella Hazan to modernlads Pizza Pilgrims. Both techniquesare useful binding mechanisms. Ifyou’re using one kilo of meat andbread with milk, just one small eggencourages tenderness.

Another option is to include bonemarrow. I’m sceptical but including asingle teaspoon results in a bewitching depth of flavour.

Spice-wise, look east and you’ll findcardamom, coriander seeds and tur

parsley and sometimes nutmeg. I’veheard of oregano and mint beingsprinkled hut I prefer simplicity, letting the meat sing for itself.

Some swear by garlic, while othersstick with onions — and some, such asAllibhoy, use both. Again, I find lessis more. One clove of garlic, finelygrated, doesn’t impose.

On reading of Henry Dimbleby’smeatballs in Leon’s Family AndFriends Cookbook I becomeintrigued about the cream cheese inthe centre. It sounds odd and, alas, onsampling! don’t like the cream cheese

Size matters. Bocca’s eight ‘tenniball-sized monsters’ get a little drieout by muggins here. I’m not keen owalnut size because I want somethina bit more impressive. Russell Noiman, the man responsible for kiclstarting the recent meatball mania iBritain, has a splendid pork and becpolpette recipe. In his book PoIp(Bloomsbury), he recommends larggolf balls, a fine option.

Everyone thinks their method ccooking the balls is best. I get the beresults by frying rather than baking.caramelises meatballs and brings oi.their sweet meatiness.

Life&Slyle íó()d with Chloe Scott@ChloeScottM

You can’t balls these up

FuLL circle: The cLassic round meatbaLL is made up of beef and pork — but there are plenty of variations on the them

meric in meatballs. More European is one bit.