Meatballs with a surprise

Cutlets and meatballs

I thought up the idea of filling a meatball with a ricotta and egg center this morning. I had no idea if it would work or not, but it really has. Someone else may well have thought this up already. I have not checked, but here is what I came up with. I remember someone listing anchovies as a secret ingredient in another recipe, so I thought I would try that out in this recipe. But the real surprise is that the ricotta filling did not ooze out of the meatballs when I sealed them up securely...ok one did leak out a bit but I had not sealed that one up so well; it was easily salvaged and quite delicious. You really only need a small amount of the ricotta mixed with the egg and herbs, but it needs to be mixed with a whole egg...so you do want to have another use ready for the remaining ricotta mixture in some other recipe. I have illustrated a small serving size, the meatballs being shaped for the filling, and the meatballs being browned after they have been stuffed and sealed. I decided to upload a close-up of the meatball I did not fill dead center, the one that oozed out in the pan. You can see that it still looks pretty appetizing, despite the flaw. For the sauce I used a huge short cut with 28 oz. of whole tomatoes in puree mixed with 25 oz. of roasted red pepper marinara sauce (by Emeril).