Escarole and mini meatball soup

Put everything for the meatballs into the bowl before touching the ground beef, so it does not get dense: ground beef, a good amount of parmigiano.

Soak stale bread in milk; the bread swells and lightens and the milk tenderises the meat.

Finely chop the garlic and parsley together and add them; add an egg (cracked into a separate bowl first), a good pinch of salt and black pepper.

Squeeze some milk out of the bread so the mixture is not soggy, add it, and patiently mix everything together.

Form teeny tiny meatballs; or make regular meatballs, cook them, and chop them up afterwards.

Put the meatballs in a cold pan with olive oil, coated all over so they do not stick and can be stirred without breaking; cook in two batches, stirring, until well coloured all around, rather than steaming them.

Discard some of the oil, add a little new oil, and saute the onions with a pinch of salt until softened; let the onion juices lift what is stuck to the pan, a couple of minutes more.

Optional: if the meatballs feel too wet to hold together, freeze about 10 minutes before cooking so they firm up.

Add the meatballs back and coat them with the onion; add the beef stock, the drained and rinsed cannellini beans and the parmigiano reggiano rind.

Bring to a boil and simmer about half an hour to 45 minutes, adding more water as needed.

Wash the escarole well and chop it; add it to the pot and simmer about 15 minutes until tender. Check the soup base for seasoning, adding a pinch of salt.

Total simmer a little over an hour, so the meatballs are really tender. Serve with lots of black pepper and parm.