Galletto Vallespluga with peppers

This recipe, though slightly revised, comes from the Cape Verde Islands. With these ingredients you’ll get a simple and tasty traditional dish with a twist.

Start by finely slicing the onion, garlic and carrots and seasoning the Galletto with salt and pepper.

Add oil to a pan and gently fry the onion and garlic. After a few minutes, add the Galletto halves to the pan and brown on all sides.

Next, dissolve the saffron in water in a bowl, then pour into the pan and add the carrots and tomato sauce. Cover and cook for 45 minutes over low heat.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into not very small pieces, add them to the rest with the chilli (which you will then remove) and continue cooking for another 25 minutes over low heat. If the cooking sauce dries too much, add a little water. At the end of cooking you will get a fairly thick sauce. Serve the Galletto accompanied by its sauce with vegetables.

The term “marinade” could mean different things, but they all have one thing in common: they mean giving meat that special something.
You can make a simple marinade with lemon juice, like anchovies in Liguria or South American “chevices”. You can marinade meat by soaking it in wine and herbs, such as with game for example.

We also use the term marinade when we sprinkle oil, salt and herbs over the meat.

When cooking, grilled meats tend to lose too much moisture and then get a little dry, stringy.
To counter this and to get the maximum results from the grill, it is useful to marinate the Galletto before baking, sprinkle it with salt (7-8 grams per Galletto) and leave it in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
Besides salt, flavors such as rosemary, coriander, thyme, and so on can also be added.

To give it a spicy taste, a little chili goes a long way.
There are already mixed salts with herbs on sale.

Cut the vegetables in large pieces and boil in a large saucepan. Add the Galletto and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the Galletto, let it cool and bone it.

Put the boned Galletto, cooked vegetables and a small ladle of the remaining broth in a food processor and blend.
Next, soak the bread in the milk, squeezing off excess liquid. Add the egg, parsley, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese to the bread and mix well.

Put both the Galletto and the bread mixture into a bowl. Grease hands so that the mixture does not stick to fingers. With your hands, form the compound into balls and roll them in semolina flour.
Pour the oil into a pan and bring it to the right temperature (dip the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil. When bubbles form around the handle, the oil is ready for browning the meatballs). Brown the meatballs well; they should be golden. Wipe the excess oil on a paper towel. Serve hot.

Children will love these meatballs and at the same time they will get their share of healthy Galletto and vegetables.