Serves 4-6 / Difficulty – Hard / Prep 1½ hour and 45 minutes cooking time
This is a recipe I have taken from the legendary Italian cookbook Silver Spoon which you can buy here. Sartù is not for the faint hearted as you basically prepare a number of little dishes and then combine to make an epic Timbale. I highly recommend you give it a try as what you will end up eating is a truly unique meal.
Ingredients
100g butter
80g breadcrumbs
1 thick bread slice, crusts removed
175ml milk
100g minced beef
Plain flour, for coating
3 tablespoons olive oil
100g chicken livers, chopped
50g Italian sausage if possible, use something flavoured like cumberland if not, peeled and crumbled
65g mozzarella cheese, diced
750ml meat Stock
½ onion, chopped
50ml passata
300g risotto rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C Grease an ovenproof dish with butter and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, turning to coat. Tip out any excess.
- Put the mushrooms in a bowl, add hot water to cover and leave to soak for 20 minutes, then drain, squeeze and chop coarsely.
- Tear the bread into pieces, place in a bowl, add the milk and a pinch of salt and leave to soak for 10 minutes, then squeeze out.
- Combine the minced beef and soaked bread I then roll the mixture into hazelnut-size balls and coat with flour. Heat 25g of the butter with the oil in a frying pan, add the meatballs and cook until golden brown all over. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
- Heat 25g of the remaining butter in another pan, add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt, cover and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes.
- Melt 25g of the remaining butter in another frying pan. Add the chicken livers and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the heat and season with salt.
- Heat the sausage and mozzarella in a small saucepan until the cheese has melted.
- Bring the stock to the boil. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in another pan, add the onion and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, then add the passata and stir in the rice. Add a ladleful of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes.
- Cover the base and sides of the prepared dish with a layer of risotto.
- Mix together all the filling ingredients and spoon them into the dish, pour the eggs over the filling and cover with the remaining risotto. Bake for about 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, leave to stand for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a serving dish and serve.
