Mondeghili (Milan’s Recycled Meatballs)
It’s a hard word to pronounce: mondeghili, (mawn day gui lee) the beloved meatballs of Milan, was originally made with leftover cooked roast or boiled meat scraps like veal or beef. In an 1839 Milanese dictionary, they are described as a type of meatball made with minced meat, bread, egg and similar ingredients. There is no exact recipe but since 2008 the meatballs have officially been recognized as a Milanese dish “denominazione communale.”
But they are not original to Milan but to Spain and under 150 years of Spanish domination, the Milanese learned how to make them. To put their own spin on the “recipe” Milanese cooks call for mortadella Bologna PGI as an essential ingredient.
The meatballs are fried in butter and traditionally served as an antipasto. Some cooks like to serve them with tomato sauce. I recently spent some time in a cooking school near Milan where the mondeghili were served with a bit of mayonnaise. Since there is no standard recipe, what I can say is that it is important to grind the meat to a fine texture and to use good stale bread soaked in milk.
| Difficulty | Serves |
|---|---|
| Easy | 15-20 |
Ingredients
- 1 cup stale bread torn into small pieces
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 oz cooked meat such as roast beef, eye round or short
- 1/2 minced Mortadella
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Grinding nutmeg
- zest large lemon
- 2 tbs minced parsley
- 1/2 cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 1 stick butter, or more.
Directions
- Place the torn bread in a bowl and pour the milk over them and allow the bread to absorb the milk. Set aside
- In a separate bowl. combine the meats, egg, salt, nutmeg, zest, parsley aand cheese. Add the milk-soaked bread and combine well.
- Form small balls, the size of whole walnuts and place them on a tray.
- Place the dry breadcrumbs in a bowl and coat each meatball in the crumbs and set them aside.
- Melt the butter in a saute pan and brown the meatballs on all sides. Serve as an antipasto with a dab of mayonnaise or with tomato sauce.
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