Chicken Polpettine & Sugo over Smoky Cannellini Beans

April 25, 2023

INGREDIENTS

Smoky Cannellini Beans with Escarole:

• 1 pound dried Cannellini or Great Northern beans, soaked overnight
• 5 qts. chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade 
• ¼ cup Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 small onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bay leaf, torn 
• 2 heads of escarole, torn
• 2 smoked turkey wings or 1 Tbs. smoked paprika
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Chicken Polpettine :  

• 2 pounds lean ground chicken or turkey
• 2 slices of white or french bread
• ½ cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 small yellow onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs. ground cumin
• 2 Tbs. flat leaf parsley, minced
• 1 Tbs. Kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• ⅓ cup Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sugo:

• 1 - 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 3 Tbs. Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced 
• ½  teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)
• ½  cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste 

DIRECTIONS

Cannellini Beans with Escarole: 

In a heavy 8+ quart stock pot over medium heat, sauté the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and paprika (if using) sauté for another minute. Add the stock, turkey wings (if using), beans, and bay leaf. Simmer for about 1 ½ hours or until the beans are tender. Add the escarole during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Meanwhile, make the polpettine...

Chicken Polpettine: 

Soak the bread in the milk. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground poultry, onion, garlic, cumin, parsley, salt and pepper. Squeeze the soaked bread of excess milk and add to the bowl. Mix the contents thoroughly and portion out 1" diameter meatballs.

Heat a large skillet over medium -high heat. Brown the meatballs in batches until golden, and set aside. 

Sugo:

Drain all but a small amount of the oil from the skillet used to brown the meatballs. Place over medium heat and add fresh olive oil. Add garlic and chili flakes. Sauté for a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the white wine and scrape up any browned bits adhering to the bottom of the pan from the meatballs.

Reduce the liquid by half and then add tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and reserved meatballs. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Ladle the beans on to a plate and top with a scoop of meatballs and sauce.      

Makes 6 hearty portions     

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