Sciusceddu

Meatballs in broth with a ricotta and egg mixture set on top in the oven.

Beef, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains beef, pecorino whose rennet the source does not name, ricotta whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 400 g minced beef
• 60 g breadcrumbs soaked in milk
• 1 egg, for the meatballs
• 40 g pecorino, for the meatballs
• parsley
• 1.5 litres beef broth
• 350 g ricotta
• 4 eggs, separated
• 60 g pecorino, grated
• 1.5 teaspoons salt

Method

1. Mix the beef with the squeezed breadcrumbs, one egg, pecorino, parsley and salt, and roll meatballs the size of a cherry. Small: they cook in the broth in minutes and large ones make it a stew.
2. Simmer them in the broth for 10 minutes and lift the pan off the heat.
3. Beat the ricotta with the 4 yolks and the pecorino until smooth.
4. WHISK THE 4 WHITES SEPARATELY TO SOFT PEAKS and fold them into the ricotta mixture. That folded air is the whole character of the dish — stirred in flat, it sets as a dense custard instead of a souffléd lid.
5. Pour the ricotta mixture over the meatballs and broth in an ovenproof dish. Do not stir it in.
6. BAKE AT 190C FOR 12 MINUTES, just until the top has puffed and set pale gold while the broth underneath is still liquid. It is a soup with a lid, not a bake.
7. Serve at once, breaking the top as you ladle it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes