Ingredients for Egg & Cheese balls
For the balls (pallotte):
3 eggs
180 g Grana Padano – aged 24 months
85 rigatino cheese
35 g pecorino d’Abruzzo cheese
100 g breadcrumbs
For frying:
about 500ml of extra virgin olive oil (light fruity)
For the tomato sauce:
1 onion
½ red pepper
2 large fresh tomatoes
tomato pulp, to taste
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons sugar
basil and oregano, to taste
| Preparation Time | 15 mins |
| Cooking Time | 1.5 h |
| Level | Medium |
| Servings | 4 persons (18 pallotte) |
Today we want to give you a 100% Abruzzo recipe, our native land in Central Italy. Like many of our recipes, they are handed down from family to family thanks above all to grandmothers and grandparents (for this reason you will find different versions of these recipes on the web): we thank our friend Anna for this super tasty recipe that comes directly from her grandmother. We really hope to have honored it!
Pallotte cac ‘e ov’, or cacio e ova, or cacio e uova, are simple meatless balls made with cheese and eggs. Bread is added to make them even more spongy and tasty.
They are first fried (obviously and strictly in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, read here why) and then “thrown” in the tomato sauce. Thanks to that the sauce is well absorbed inside the balls and they will result in soft, spongy, and super tasty! Aren’t you curious to try them out?
For the uninitiated, yes, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the most suitable oil for frying: we always use it. Read our article on how to fry with extra virgin olive oil.
Directions for Eggs and Cheese Balls
- Use the stale bread and grate it coarsely. Otherwise, use breadcrumbs (if you find it, prefer the coarse-grained one to give a more rustic texture to the dish);
- Grate the cheeses and mix them with the bread;
- Add the eggs and mix well by hand;
- Make medium-sized balls. About 18 will come out with this recipe;
- Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a deep saucepan. It has to completely cover the balls;
- Once it reaches 180 ° C, “throw” the pallotte in EVO oil, 5 or 6 at a time (not all together or they will not cook evenly and they will lower the EVO oil temperature too much);
- Drain the excess olive oil with absorbent towels (let them dry for at least 30 minutes);
- You can decide, to your preference, whether to make the sauce with ready-made tomato puree or with pieces of fresh tomato (to increase its consistency).
- Start by making a sauté with onions and red peppers. Add the tomato pieces and finally the tomato sauce. Let it boil. Consider a fair amount of tomato sauce: it will need to cover the balls once they are put in the sauce. Add salt and sugar (if you want to know more, here is the recipe for making an excellent tomato sauce with extra virgin olive oil).
- Add the cacio e ova pallotte to the sauce, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour over low heat.
- When cooked, add basil and fresh oregano, a high quality EVO oil and serve. Enjoy your meal!
Do not forget to make a good “scarpetta” (which means clean your dish from the tomato sauce with the bread) with a good homemade bread, it is a must (read our recipe if you want homemade bread with extra virgin olive oil!)