Recipe of the week: Italian meatballs with a Sicilian accent

Many classic Italian dishes remain unfamiliar to most Americans, said Kate

Heddings in Food & Wine, especially those from Sicily—a small region with vast culinary resources. Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli, proprietors of Frankies Spuntino in Brooklyn, N.Y., created this version of Sicilian-style meatballs. “The duo nod to Sicily in almost every dish on their menus.” The Sicilian touch in this dish, they say, comes from the dried currants and pine nuts.

Recipe of the week

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Sicilian-Style Meatballs

2 28-oz cans peeled Italian tomatoes, crushed

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

4 slices white sandwich bread

4 large eggs, beaten

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp minced marjoram

2 lbs ground beef chuck

1/2 cup dried currants

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs

2 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Pour the tomatoes into a large enameled cast-iron casserole and crush them. Add the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, soak the bread in water until saturated. Squeeze out the water and transfer the bread to a large bowl. Mash the bread to a paste and stir in the eggs, garlic, parsley, marjoram, 1 tbsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Mash until smooth. Add the chuck, currants, pine nuts, and cheese, and mix until combined. Add the bread crumbs, 1 tbsp at a time, and knead until the mixture is firm enough to roll. Form the mixture into 36 meatballs (about 3 tbsp each), tucking in the currants and pine nuts.

In a large, nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Add the meatballs in two batches and fry over moderate heat, turning, until browned and cooked through, about 12 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meatballs to a plate. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve in bowls, passing more cheese at the table.

Serves 12.