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1
Rinse the soaked baccala and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
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2
Lightly oil a 10-inch metal baking pan.
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3
In a shallow bowl or pan, lay the bread slices flat.
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4
Pour the nocino over the bread and let stand, so that the liquor soaks into and softens the bread.
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5
Roughly chop the baccala into chunks, about 1/4-inch each.
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6
Place these chunks in a medium-sized braising pot.
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7
Add the half the olives and half the capers.
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8
Add the soaked bread, pouring in any of the excess nocino, and use either your hands or a wooden spoon to blend all the ingredients, breaking up the bread.
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9
Mix until the meatball mixture is homogenous.
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10
Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and a generous pinch of oregano.
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11
Mix again until well combined.
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12
Add the eggs and mix until completely homogenous.
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13
Using your hands, form 12 evenly sized, meatballs from the mixture, each slightly larger in diameter than a golf ball, but smaller than a tennis ball.
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14
Using your palm, squash each meatball so that they resemble thick coins in shape.
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15
This shape will help them hold up during the cooking process.
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16
In a 12 to 14-inch saucepan, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium-high until hot but not smoking.
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17
Working in batches of 6 at a time, add the meatballs and cook until brown on all sides, about 6 minutes each batch.
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18
Set the browned meatballs aside.
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19
In a 14-inch saucepan over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil until hot but not smoking.
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20
Add the sliced garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 5 minutes.
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21
Add the tomatoes, the remaining olives, capers and oregano.
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22
Add salt and pepper, to taste.
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23
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer gently for 15 minutes.
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24
Add the meatballs and simmer until they are warm throughout.
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25
Serve immediately.
