1/4 cup chopped Pancetta or smoked Slab bacon. cut into very small cubes.
1 medium onion chopped
*1 tablespoon of Extra virgin Olive oil, just to saute the onions and the Pancetta.
2 Tablespoon of minced or finely chopped Garlic.
1 cup of good dry white wine.(if you drink it, cook with it, NEVER use those
Start sauteing in your soup pot the 1/4 cup of chopped Pancetta or Smoked slab bacon, trim as much fat as you want off it's just for the flavor, you don't need all the fat anyway. Add the olive oil and the Onion. When the Onion is almost brown, add your garlic. Saute till all are just soft and lightly brown, don't over cook the garlic. Then de-glaze the pan with the white wine, let it cook down getting all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Next add your beans and stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and add your Escarole let simmer until Escarole is soft and cooked all the way through about 45 mins, last 15 mins add your meatballs. garnish and enjoy.
garnish---There are a few schools of thought here, I usually garnish with some parmesan cheese, chopped roasted red peppers and some toasted pignoli nuts. but really any garnish that you like would be fine.
**Chicken Meatball recipe---1 lb ground chicken , 2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs. 1 large egg. 1/2 Tsp of dried garlic, 1 Tsp of parsley and 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese. Mix in a bowl, form tiny meatballs by hand about the size of a large marble. roll them in bread crumbs. Gently fry the meatballs, turning once, then pre heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the meatballs on a cooking tray and place them in the oven to finish cooking for about 15 minutes until they are cooked all the way through. Chicken meat balls tend to be more sticky than regular meat balls, so use a spoon with olive oil on it and rub your hands with Olive oil when you are rolling them.
*(My Nona would get into trouble in the olive oil Isle at the local store, she would open them up and rub the oil on her hands to smell it, the more fragrant and green the oil, the better the flavor in your food she would have many an argument with the owners of the store about the quality of his olive oil and or the fact that she would open so many bottles till she found the right one.)
Serves 8 People
