Fried Pork & Rice Balls

Feeling nostalgic:
I remember as a kid, my grandmother making, what I thought, was the strangest food.  I wish, I could have appreciated those foods then, the way that I do now.  My grandmother doesn't speak English very well.  She came here, on a boat, with a baby in tow, not knowing a word of the English language.  She learned the little bit of English she speaks by watching T.V.  Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this, is that the one thing she knew over here was how to cook.  And I mean, good, authentic Italian food.  In a round about way, I'm trying to explain, that there are certain foods from my childhood, and I'm sure everyone's childhood that bring comfort.

I remember these little balls of fried meat that she used to make.  Looking back, I think it was basically a flattened, fried meatball with some rice in the mix but it was HEAVENLY.  I haven't been able to get these things out of my mind for days.  This is simple. This is good. This is simply good food.

This week, I'm under a tremendous amount of stress and over the weekend I was craving some comfort by way of food.  My husband was out, the kids were in bed so I decided to give remaking these a try.  I did not have some of the ingredients that I believe to be in her recipe so here was my best shot at a remake with what I had on hand.  I have to say, they were pretty damn good.

Fried Pork & Rice Balls (I just couldn't come up with a better name that described what they are)

Ingredients:

Directions: 

Garnish with a bit of chopped parsley and serve with a bowl of warm marinara for dipping.