Tuna vs Shrimp Meatballs

Shrimp Meatballs from Urban Italian

Last week I tried the Shrimp Meatball recipe from Andrew Carmellini’s Urban Italian cookbook and went through half a baguette soaking up the sauce. It's basically white wine and butter based but has a nice addition of  salty clam juice.  I had some observant friends coming over and made a pescetarian version, but it was a mostly bad idea.  The meatballs needed the fat and spices from the chorizo sausage in the recipe.  If I attempted that again, I'd add more olive oil and maybe some fennel and extra crushed red pepper. 

Those fish-based meatballs made me crave one of my all time favorite, Jamie Oliver's Tuna Meatballs from his Jamie's Italy cookbook. It's a nice elevated version of Sunday night spaghetti and meatballs and great to serve for company. The pine nuts and cinnamon made the kitchen smell delicious on a dreary winter afternoon.

Tuna Meatballs from Jamie's Italy

The winner?  I still love the tuna the most for a non-meat dish.  However, if you are looking to cook a non-traditional meatball dish, let me recommend the  Lamb Meatballs Stuffed with Goat Cheese from Urban Italian.  A combination of ground lamb and spicy Italian sausage with a little ball of goat cheese in the middle of each meatball that oozes out when you bite into it.

Lamb Meatballs Stuffed with Goat Cheese from Urban Italian