Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs)
Authentic albondigas are a quick and popular tapas dish that can also work well as a mid-week meal for all the family, served with rice or pasta. This albondigas recipe is made from minced beef and pork blended with fried onions, cumin and smokey paprika and shaped into large Spanish meatballs that are slowly cooked in a rich tomato sauce made with roasted red peppers and Rioja wine.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
For the Albondigas:
- 18 oz ground pork
- 18 oz ground beef
- 1 medium onion finely chopped and sweated for 5 minutes in pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp sweet Spanish paprika
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 small piece bread dough soaked in milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil for frying
- Manchego cheese to grate
For the sauce:
- 1 large onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove peeled and finely chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 tbsp of olive oil
- ½ cup rioja red wine
- 2.2 lbs ripe plum tomatoes roughly chopped
- pinch sugar
- Salt and pepper taste
- 1 large red pepper cut in half lengthways, core and seeds removed
Instructions
- Start by making the meatballs. In a large bowl combine the minced beef and pork with the sweated onions, cumin, paprika, parsley, egg yolk, bread dough, salt and pepper. Mix well and shape into meatballs the size of a golf ball. Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- To make the sauce, place a medium-sized pan on a low heat, add 4 tablespoons of the oil, chopped onions, garlic and bay leaf and cook until soft for about 10 minutes. Add the red wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes. Add a pinch of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and season with salt and keep warm.
- Pre-heat your oven grill. Rub 1 tablespoon of olive oil on all the pepper halves and place under the grill until the skins are completely black all round, remove from the grill and cover with some aluminium foil and rest for 10 minutes. After this time, peel all the peppers and cut into long strips.
- Heat some oil in a large frying pan and fry the meatballs until nicely brown on all sides. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook on a low heat without boiling for 2 minutes on each side. Add the strips of roasted peppers and serve in small dishes with grated manchego cheese melted under the grill.
