Albondigas, or meatballs, is a staple Spanish tapa. There are many variations, usually made with beef or pork, and each family and Tapas Bar will have its own secret recipe, which has often been handed down through generations.
You can make your meatballs spicy, or just full of flavour, and there are any number of different sauces, or salsas, to accompany them. Experiment to find your own favourite combination of tastes. Finely chopped peppers can be added to this version if you wish. This particular recipe originates from the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera). Always use nice lean meat for best results.
Ingredients:
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 lbs. lean minced beef
• 1/4 cup freeze dried parsley
• 2 x 75g packets smoked bacon taquitos
• 1/2 cup (approx) bread crumbs for coating
• extra virgin olive oil for frying
• 1/2 cup flour
• Salt and pepper for seasoning, plus chilli flakes for more heat.
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 4 cups beef stock. (Oxo or Bovril works well if you don’t have time to make your own stock)
• 4 tbsps freeze dried parsley for sauce
This recipe serves 6-8 as a main course or 10-12 as tapas.
Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Place the mince, onion, garlic, parsley and bacon in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Form into balls about the size of a table tennis ball. You may want to make them smaller for Tapas, so they can be speared with a cocktail stick. Now coat each meatball in breadcrumbs, then flour. I’ve used supermarket breadcrumbs with parsley and garlic for this, and it works well.
Heat ½ inch depth of olive oil in a large heavy frying pan. Fry meatballs a few at a time until golden, turning to ensure the meat is cooked through.
Remove meatballs from pan as they cook and place on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.
Place bread crumbs, parsley and 1 cup of the stock into a large pot. Mix well. Turn heat to medium and add the rest of the stock. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the meatballs to the sauce. Serve with rice, pasta or chips if having as a main course. Buen Provecho!
