Wonder Woman and Her Killer Balls...

Meet Jo Sciberra (AKA Wonder Woman) the beautiful face behind Scriberra’s Fresh, an amazing market garden at Peats Ridge.

What started as six bags of lemons and an honesty box more than 20 years ago is now a thriving family business that keeps the team busy 365 days a year.

There’s nothing this mother of five can’t do. She’s the first one on the farm each morning and in between packing boxes and helping clients she packs school lunches and gets the homework done. The queen of multi tasking.

It’s been a perfect winter on the farm, just the right amount of rain and crisp days which means the winter crops are thriving and spring seedlings are in the greenhouse.

Jo’s go to in the kitchen at the moment when she comes home to 6 hungry mouths? Meat balls and veg.

Taking Jo’s cue we knocked up the ultimate meatballs…

Adapted from Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread (aka the best bread book ever written), this is the only meat ball recipe you’ll ever need. Serve them as a sandwich, with pasta or with some vege on the side. Either way you’ll cherish every mouthful!

Enjoy

Tartine Meatballs

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

Meatballs

4 tbsp olive oil

1 leek, sliced thinly

¾ cup milk

2 cups coarse homemade bread crumbs ( sourdough works the best, use something from Luigi or Alice, just put the old ends in the blender )

500g beef mince (no lean or extra lean beef, the flavour just isn’t there)

500g pork mince

3 large eggs

1 cup grated Cheddar

¼ cup dry red wine

1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped finely

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp chopped chilli (you can skip this if you’re feeding it to the kids)

Pesto

¼ cup finely chopped garlic

¼ cup Italian parsley leaves, chopped

¼ cup majoram leaves, chopped

½ cup rocket, chopped

¼ cup pine nuts

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

Tomato Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 leek, diced thinly

1 500g can whole tomatoes

Method

1. Start with the meatballs so they have time to rest in the fridge before you cook them. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the leek and sauté until lightly golden, ~10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
2. In a small bowl, combine the milk and bread crumbs, then let them sit until the crumbs have absorbed all or most of the milk (~5 minutes).
3. Gently crumble the ground beef and pork into a large mixing bowl, breaking the meat up carefully with your fingers.
4. Add in the cooled leek, soaked breadcrumbs (along with any residual milk), eggs, cheese, red wine, parsley, salt, pepper, and chilli.
5. Toss the ingredients together to combine. You want everything to be mixed in thoroughly, but try not to over work the meat.
6. Cover and refrigerate the meat for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
7. While the meatball mixture chills, make the pesto.
8. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a smooth paste has formed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
9. Make the tomato sauce by heating the olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Saute the garlic and leek until fragrant, but not coloured, ~5-7 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes.
10. Bring the sauce to a simmer and reduce for ~20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Remove the tomato sauce from the heat, but keep in the saucepan.
12. Once you’re ready to roll out the meatballs, prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
13. Scoop out spoonfuls of meatball mix, then roll into small balls and set on the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the meatballs have been rolled (~60). ( if you think you’ll have too many meat balls you can try freezing them at this stage).
14. You can now let the meatballs rest in the fridge, or cook right away.
15. To cook, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in your largest skillet set over medium heat. Working n batches place the meatballs around the pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides, moving them gently when it’s time to flip, as they’re quite delicate.
16. Transfer the cooked meatballs to a plate and cook the remaining batch using the last tbsp of olive oil.
17. Once all the meatballs are cooked, transfer them into the saucepan of warm tomato sauce. Set over medium-low heat to keep warm while you get the bread ready.

To serve add them to a bowl of spaghetti with a dollop of pesto and grated parmesan or assemble them into a legendary sandwich with sauce, pesto and melted cheddar.

Enjoy and remember to share your creations #yfc&me.