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Pallotte cacio e uova (Cheese and Egg Balls)

Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time2 hours

Ingredients

For the balls:

  • 400 g 14 oz of mixed grated cheeses (see Notes)
  • 4 eggs
  • 100 g 4 oz of best-quality white bread, crusts removed and soaked in water and squeezed dried
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
  • A few sprigs of fresh parsley finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

  • One batch home-made tomato sauce optionally, with sliced or diced red bell pepper added to the soffritto

Instructions

  • Mix all of the ingredients indicated above together in a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture rest for a good hour in the fridge to allow the flavors to get acquainted and the mixture to firm up.
  • While the mixture is resting, make your tomato sauce, using any of the Southern Italian-style sauces indicated in our post "Tomato Sauce 101", made with a soffritto of garlic or garlic and onion, like Sauces #2 or #3. Many recipes call for adding chopped or thinly sliced red bell pepper, a typically Abruzzese addition. (Personally, I'm not very fond of tomato and bell pepper together.)
  • Take the bowl out of the fridge and form them into 'meatballs'.
  • Deep fry the cheese and egg balls, or shallow fry them in olive oil, until they are nice and golden brown all over. Make sure the balls are well spaced, as they tend to stick together, especially when they first start cooking, as they cheese starts to melt and before the egg binding takes hold.
  • Transfer the fried balls to the tomato sauce and let them simmer there for a good 15-20 minutes. The balls will swell a bit as they cook and take on an almost spongy texture.
  • Serve immediately.