Calabrian-style Grilled Skewered Meatballs
Spiedini
Region: Italy, Calabria
Category: Beef-Grilled
Season: Summer
Difficulty: Medium Difficulty

In Calabria, the toe of the Italian boot, when they say spiedini, they mean these rustic skewers of grilled ground beef flavored with salami, parsley and sage.

[photo: Dennis M. Gottlieb, in Clifford A. Wright, Grill Italian]

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Preparation Time: 50 minutes

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup milk

1 pound twice-ground beef (ask the butcher to do this or use a meat grinder or food processor)

1 large egg

3 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese

1 tablespoon lard, softened at room temperature

1/4 pound salami, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

24 slices pork fat back, 1/16 inch thick, cut into 3/4-inch squares

24 fresh sage leaves

About 1/2 loaf Italian or French bread, cut into twenty-four 1-inch cubes

Sixteen 10-inch wooden skewers

Extra-virgin olive oil or melted lard for basting

1. Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill for 15 minutes on medium.

2. Soak the bread in the milk and then squeeze the milk out.  Place the soaked bread crumbs  in a medium-size bowl.  Mix and knead the crumbs with the meat, egg, cheese, lard, salami, and parsley.  Form the meat with wet hands to prevent sticking into 24 walnut-sized balls and set aside.

3. Double skewer all the ingredients: place a meatball on a surface and skewer the meatball, pork fat, sage, and bread cubes, in that order, placing no more than 3 of each ingredient on each set of double skewers, keeping the 2 skewers parallel to each other about 1/2 inch apart. 

4. Place the skewers on the grill and cook, turning frequently, until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Baste frequently with the olive oil or melted lard during grilling.  Discard the fat after grilling.  Serve hot.

Variation: 

Note: 

Posted: 12/12/2006