A great family dish for sharing in the middle of the table, as a simple tapas dish or even as a light lunch.
Who doesn’t love a good meatball! I’ve cooked, tasted and experimented with several variations of meatballs over the years. Italian Meatballs, Swedish Kottbullar, Turkish Kofta, Polish Meatballs, Israeli Falafel and the list goes on. Different meats, different spices and very different flavours – as you’d expect, some more successful than others. This recipe is very typical of the meatballs you’d find in Spain, more commonly known as “Albondigas”.
Where possible I try to showcase recipes that originate from my region of Spain, Murcia. But on this occasion, I should point out that there is no similarity with the recipe “Las pelotas murcianas” (translates simply as Murcian balls) I’ll feature these in a future recipe and you’ll see once again, they are very different.
For my “Albondigas” I use a combination or pork and beef, I think it improves the balance of flavours and is an approach I take commonly when making meat sauces such as Ragu or Bolognese. I prefer to mince my own meat rather than buy from the supermarket, it means I can balance the amount of fat and the cut of meat I use. With mince from the supermarkets it’s difficult to know exactly what you’re getting. For my mix used here, I’m taking pork loin and sirloin steak and adding pig fat which can be bought easily here in Spain. In the UK I would recommend using pork belly due to the higher far content and it grinds down well. I had a meat grinder stashed away in the cupboard for nearly 3 years without ever being used, then I moved to Spain and now it gets used two or three times a month.
The spices are also important here, you can swap out the spice mix and use whatever combination you like but I’ve tried a few combinations and this simple mix seems to work very well every time without being too overpowering.
The texture of your meatball really is key, you don’t want a meatloaf type texture, instead I try and aim for a crumblier consistency that keeps the meatball much lighter. To achieve that I soak a couple of pieces of wholemeal bread in milk, crusts removed, for about 10 minutes or so and then add to the meatball mix.
The sauce here is also interesting, it’s much sweeter than you might expect, but with the combination of spices in the meat I think it matches perfectly. But again, you can change the sauce and serve with a more traditional meat gravy, tomato sauce or try the Spanish Romesco sauce. All will work with this recipe; let me know what you prefer in the comments section below. I’m always keen to hear about your own creations.
As always share your feedback and photos of your own creations in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Buen Provecho!
Spanish Meatballs with Amontillado Sauce
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Medium Saucepan with Lid
- Box Grater
- Food Liquidiser or Blender
- Large Frying Pan
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 500 g Pork Mince
- 500 g Beef Mince
- 1 Spanish Onion medium, finely chopped and sweated down for 5 minutes and cooled
- ½ tsp Ground Cumin
- ½ tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 tbsp Spanish Paprika sweet
- 2 slices Wholemeal Bread pre-soaked in milk
- 75 g Flat Leaf Parsley finely chopped
- 1 Egg medium, organic preferred
- Salt and Pepper to taste, for seasoning
- Plain Flour for coating the meatballs
- Rapeseed Oil for frying the meatballs
Sherry Sauce
- 1 Carrot large, finely chopped
- 1 Celery Stick finely chopped
- 1 Spanish Onion large, finely chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic finely chopped
- 3 Tomatoes vine ripened, grated (seeds and skin removed)
- 300 ml Beef or Veal Stock use "reduced salt" stock if shop bought
- 150 ml Amontillado Sherry
- Salt and Pepper to taste, for seasoning
Instructions
Prep your meatballs
- Add your minced beef, pork, pre-cooked onions, soaked bread, egg, spices, herbs and seasoning to a large mixing bowl.
- Using your hands, combine the ingredients until everything is thoroughly mixed together. You don't want a paste, like Swedish Meatballs, so don't overwork the mixture, as you want to try and achieve a light crumbly texture.
- Using an ice-cream scoop (or by hand) portion the meatball mixture and roll into balls, about the size of a ping-pong ball. Place on a tray lined with greaseproof paper and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
Make the sauce
- Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan on a low heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and gently sweat down for about 10 minutes until they become tender.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the grated tomato (you can use canned tomatoes here if you can't get good quality fresh tomatoes). Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the Sherry and reduce by ⅓, you want to cook off the raw alcohol taste. Then add the stock and reduce by half. Season with Salt and Pepper.
- Put the sauce into a liquidiser or use a stick blender and whizz together until smooth, add a little hot water if it is too thick.
Cook the meatballs
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Take the meatballs and roll them in the flour, this helps seal the meatballs as you fry them. Add the rapeseed oil to a medium-hot frying pan and gently fry the meatballs in batches, making sure they are nicely browned, 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen towel until they are all cooked. They don't need to be cooked all the way through as they will be finished in the sauce.
- Pour the sauce into a terracotta or casserole dish. Place the meatballs in the dish and lightly cover with kitchen foil. Cook for about 15 minutes, sprinkle with parsley and serve with either rice, a nice hunk of bread or sautéed potatoes.
Nutrition
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