Tapas Spanish Meatballs Albondigas Recipes

TAPAS SPANISH MEATBALLS (ALBONDIGAS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F
• Slice about three 1/2-inch slices off your bread loaf. Tear these slices into small pieces. Spread pieces out onto a sheet pan and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until completely dry. Move the bread pieces around midway through to ensure even cooking.
• Remove bread from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Use a food processor to break down the pieces until you get a fine consistency.
• Raise oven temperature to 400°F. Chop the roma tomatoes into large chunks and peel the garlic. Place the tomatoes and garlic into a roasting pan.
• Drizzle the tomatoes and garlic with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove roasting pan from oven and add the veggie stock to it. Scrape off all the nice caramelized bits. Transfer contents to a medium saucepan. Add in the bay leaf and oregano and bring to a boil.
• Lower temperature and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf from the saucepan. Use a stick blender to puree into tomato sauce.
• In a mixing bowl combine all the meatball ingredients except the olive oil. Thoroughly combine with your hands but do not overmix.
• Portion into 1oz meatballs.
• Heat the 1 tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the meatballs and brown on all sides. (Do not overcrowd the pan, do this in two batches if necessary)
• Remove meatballs from pan and set aside. Going back to the sauce ingredients list, add in the diced yellow onion and saute until translucent. Add in the 2 tsp tomato paste and mix into the onions. Saute for about a minute. Lower heat to medium-low.
• Carefully add your tomato sauce into the skillet. Mix to combine. Add in the red pepper flakes, chile powder, and smoked paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the meatballs back into the sauce along with any juices that have come out. Bring sauce to a simmer and place a lid on the skillet. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until cooked through.
• Serve with the rest of the country loaf and enjoy!

SPANISH MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE - ALBONDIGAS RECIPE

Steps:

• Make meatballs: Place the ground meat, grated garlic cloves, lightly beaten egg, dried breadcrumbs, parsley, sweet, smoked, hot paprika, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix well with your hand. Form between 30 and 35 small meatballs, about the size of a walnut.
• Fry meatballs: Heat the oil in a large skillet. Fry the meatballs (in two batches if necessary) until brown on all sides. This will take about 5 minutes. Take the meatballs out of the pan and set them aside.
• Chop the onion very finely.
• Saute: Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same skillet. Add the onion and cook it until translucent. Add the finely chopped garlic cloves and stir for another minute.
• Simmer: Add the tomatoes from the can, fennel seeds, oregano, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and chopped parsley. Add some salt and pepper as well. Stir well and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until slightly thickened.
• Add the meatballs to the pan and heat them in the sauce for about 5 minutes or cooked through.
• Serve as suggested above.

ALBONDIGAS (SPANISH MEATBALLS)

Steps:

• Mix the mince with the egg and half the onion. Season with 1 stock cube and black pepper.
• Roll the mixture with your hands into ping pong sized balls and fry in oil until almost cooked (the meatballs can still be slightly pink in middle as they are going to simmer in the sauce). Drain all but 1tbsp oil in the pan, retaining the bit's of meat that are left in the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the onions and some garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes - they should turn a beatiful meaty colour.
• Add the 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and a good sprinkling of mixed herbs (I used Herbs de Provence). Add in the red wine and crumble in the final stock cube, then season again if required.
• Simmer for 20 minutes so that the sauce thickens - longer if it requires it.
• Serving Suggestion - This can be served on it's own as part of a tapas meal, or you could serve these with spaghetti or some Spanish rice.