Are you looking to up your grilling game for Memorial Day weekend? Are you surprised to hear me talking about Memorial Day? I usually wouldn’t be so tuned into such an American holiday, since I live in Italy and unless someone actually tells me it’s Memorial Day, Labor Day or even Thanksgiving, I tend to forget. From over here it’s just another Monday. Or Thursday.
But this year I’m in the States celebrating the publication of my new book, Eating My Way Through Italy. And since I’m pretty sure it’s the first Memorial Day I’ve spent in the States for over 30 years, I”m taking full advantage of the holiday weekend by heading up to my friends house in Maine, to stuff myself with lobster and probably drink way too many martinis.
But if you’re like 99% of the people I read about on social media then you may be grilling? Am I right? And if you are, I thought you might enjoy this sneak peak at one of the recipes from the book (it’s due out May 29). These are delicious pork roll ups, meant to be grilled, and of course they have a personal story behind them.
One summer, while hanging out on the beach in southern Puglia with some of her friends while on a camping trip, Sophie met some boys. While most blond-haired, blue-eyed girls would end up going to a club or bar, Sophie somehow wrangled herself an internship in a butchers shop belonging to Michele in a small town in Salento. While stand alone butchers are a dying breed in bigger cities like Florence, Rome and even Bari, in the small towns of Puglia they were thriving. In fact, they were so busy that they needed help. And so Sophie became, for two summers, a butcher’s apprentice.
One of Sophie’s tasks was preparing the bombette, which are the porky version of involtini. They are thinly sliced pieces of fatty pork, which are rolled around a piece of cheese, some even fattier pancetta, seasonings and secured with a toothpick. Customers stop by to pick them up prepared at the butchers, to finish cooking at home. They are usually meant to be grilled and are often served at street fairs, where the butcher will actually set up a grill on the street. The bombette are cooked on a skewer, to keep them in place, but are then slid off into a paper cone, to be eaten while walking.
Everyone has their own special version of bombette, but the basic recipe is as follows: A thin slice of neck muscle (collo) seasoned with spices, filled with cheese and pancetta, rolled up and secured with a toothpick. They are often covered in breadcrumbs, which I love (but makes for more delicate attention at the grill) Each butcher is known not only for the quality of his meat, but also for the special, inventive, fillings. Here follows Michele’s basic recipe, with some of his filling variations.
Bombette
While pancetta and cacio cavallo are the traditional fillings, Michele, has his own special fillings:
- -pancetta, caciocavallo and mushrooms*
- -Radicchio* and gorgonzola
- -Arugula and grated parmigiano
- -Mortadella and provolone
*The mushrooms and radicchio should be cooked first, in a pan, with oil and garlic.
If you don't have your grill going you can either cook them in a 200C/400F oven for about 30 minutes, or even in a pan on top of the stove.
Ingredients
- 1 pound/ 1/2 kilo pork neck, cut into very thin slices. You should get about 20-24 slices.
- 6. 5 oz/ 200 grams pancetta, sliced very thinly
- 3 oz / 100 grams cacio cavallo cheese
- Parsley
- Salt
- Black pepper
- toothpicks
Instructions
- Cut the cheese into small cubes and set aside.
- Remove the parsley from the stems and set aside the leaves.
- Prepare the meat by pounding each steak, using a meat pounder, until the meat is about 1/8 inch thin. Then cut each steak into 2, so that you are left with pieces measuring about 5 x 5 inch square.
- To assemble:
- Place one of the slices of pork on a flat surface. Season with salt and pepper. Lay a slice of pancetta on top, and then add a few cubes of cheese, followed by a few leaves of parsley. Roll up tucking the sides in so that the cheese can't melt out. Secure it with a toothpick, set aside, and repeat for the rest.
- Bombette are almost always grilled, and this is most easily done by placing 3 or 4 bombette on a skewer. Grill over low to medium heat until cooked through, and browned on the outside.
- Traditionally the bombette are slipped off the skewer and tipped into a paper cone, so that you can eat them while walking around. If you are preparing these for a party, it's a great idea to serve them this way as an appetizer before you get to the table. (If you are throwing a party anywhere near Cutrofiano, in Salento, Sophie's friend Michele will come by with his own grill. )
For more details about my adventures in Puglia and elsewhere see my newest book, Eating My Way Through Italy.
(I’m actually in the USA for the next few weeks – May 22-June 7 2018 -, on book tour, so please check my events page and see if I’ll be in a city near you.)
And if you’re traveling and want to know exactly where to eat, please download my app, Eat Italy. Available on iTunes and (in a few weeks) on Android too!
And if you happen to be in need of meat in Cutrofiano, just head to:
Macelleria Antica Tradizione di Fuso Michele
Viale della Costituzione, 40B
Cutrofiano, LE Puglia
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