Papardelle with Arti­choke Hearts, Ital­ian Sausage Meat­balls and Lemon

4 cloves gar­lic, fine­ly chopped

1 red onion, fine­ly chopped

1 tsp Ital­ian seasoning

sea salt and fresh black pepper

hand­ful flat-leaf pars­ley, rough­ly chopped

hand­ful basil, chopped in ribbons

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup white wine

grat­ed Parmesan

Now, if you’re a nor­mal per­son, you may sim­ply buy your pork ready-minced.  But I like to put mine through my trusty KitchenAid min­cer attach­ment.  In any case, mix the pork with the moz­zarel­la in a medi­um bowl.

Pour half the drained olive oil from the arti­chokes into a large fry­ing pan and fry the fen­nel, gar­lic and onion until soft.  Add the Ital­ian sea­son­ing, sea­son with salt and pep­per to taste, and set the mix­ture aside to cool.  When cool, mix with the pork and cheese.  Form into bite-size meat­balls and place in the fridge to get firm.

Pour the oth­er half of the drained arti­choke oil into the same fry­ing pan and heat the oil to hot.  Place the meat­balls care­ful­ly in the oil and fry on one side until browned, then turn the meat­balls over to cook on the oth­er side.  Con­tin­ue to turn care­ful­ly until the meat­balls are cooked through, per­haps 10 min­utes.  Don’t wor­ry if they break up a bit.  It’s not important.

Mean­while, cook the pap­pardelle in plen­ty of salt­ed water.

When the meat­balls are cooked, add the arti­choke hearts, half the pars­ley and basil, the lemon juice and zest, and the white wine.  Stir every­thing togeth­er gen­tly.  Pluck the pap­pardelle from the pas­ta water and add to the fry­ing pan, adding a few spoon­fuls of the pas­ta water until you have achieved a nice sauce.  Toss every­thing togeth­er, top with remain­ing pars­ley and basil, and serve with grat­ed cheese.