BRODO COLLE PALLINE

On 15th November we are officially allowed to "light up", that is, to switch the central heating on, here in the Ragusa area and this is the first in four Sicilian winters when I have almost arrived at that date without desperately longing to switch it on before. The temperature has been a pleasant 18 C on most days recently but Saturday was cloudy and rainy, so Irma decided to make brodo colle palline [broth with little meatballs] to start lunch:

First make your broth which you can, of course, do well in advance: You will need a half kilo piece of chuck beef steak or similar cut; the meat should have a little fat on it. Put this in a pan with abundant water, a tomato, some celery, an onion and seasalt and boil for about 2.5 hours, until the meat is tender. Strain it and keep the broth. To make the meatballs, mix 200 gr minced beef with some breadcrumbs, grated parmesan , chopped parsley, crushed garlic, salt and egg to bind and form the mixture into tiny balls with your hands. Bring the broth to the boil, add the meatballs and boil for 1 minute. Then add some pastine [small pasta - about 100 gr per person] and cook until the pasta is ready. There should still be a lot of liquid at the end of cooking. [Serves 4 - 6.]

This is just the thing to make you feel loved and comforted on a cooler, autumn day in Sicily - or on a stormy night like this one, now that I come to think of it!