Post solstice (and beyond) Meatballs (hallelujah)

These are adopted from "Molto Italiano" by Mario Batali (2005). The pine nuts (toasted) add a fantastic texture. The combination of veal, pork and beef are unbeatable. And, yes, there is just a little bit of garlic in these.

Makes 25 golf-ball sized meatballs, 3 per person...

3 cups of 1-inch cubes of day old bread (cut the crusts off; whole wheat worked well)
1/2 pound of each: ground chuck, ground veal, and ground pork
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted in a saute pan (careful: they burn easily)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil, as needed to cook the meatballs

1. In a shallow bowl, soak the bread cubes in water to cover for 20 minutes. Drain the bread cubes and squeeze the excess moisture.

2. In a large bowl, combine the bread, meats, eggs, garlic, pecorino, parsley, pine nuts, salt and pepper, and mix with your hands just until blended. With wet hands, form the mixture into golfball-sized meatballs.

3. In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until almost smoking. Add the meatballs, then reduce the heat to prevent excessive browning of the meatballs or the cheese will form a hard crust. Cook in batches, approximately 10 minutes each, while continuously turning in the pan during cooking. Still be careful when turning while cooking: the meatballs are delicate and will fall apart with too much motion. After reaching a deep golden brown, remove from heat.

We ate a few of these with a marvelously light whole wheat cappellini pasta. The meatballs were briefly re-heated in a saute pan with with fresh, seeded, peeled and diced tomatoes plus garlic. This mixture was lightly tossed with the warm pasta. Wonderful!