Meatballs / Albondigas

Meatballs - this recipe makes 20 meatballs, about 1.5 inches each. A four quart dutch oven is perfect, but can also be make in a deep skillet.

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (buffalo, turkey or chicken works if you don’t eat beef)

• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

• 2 tbl breadcrumbs

• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tbl fresh chopped cilantro (if you don’t have this, no problem)

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

• 2 tbl olive oil - just enough to coat the bottom of the pan

• 1 tbl water - just enough to moisten the meat mixture

• Additional salt and pepper to season the sauce approx.1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1/2 avocado, sliced, is a great accompaniment (optional)

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 pint /2 cups, fresh tomato salsa, refrigerated is freshest. It can be found as “pico de gallo” or salsa fresca

  • Note: recently I used a green fresh salsa (versus red) which I had on hand. It was delicious!

• 1 8 oz individual pouch/can/jar of mild “Tomato Sofrito” (found in Hispanic section), or 1 small can 8 oz. of tomato sauce.

  • Note: The sofrito is a seasoned, spicy tomato sauce. It is sold in pouches, jars and canned, usually in the hispanic food section. If not available, use small can of plain tomato sauce and add salt, red pepper, or cayenne pepper to spice it up. If you don’t like spicy, just add salt to taste. The main idea is that the “sofrito” adds body to the fresh salsa, which is there for fresh flavor. See section below on various sauce combination to achieve a deep, spicy sauce for the meatballs.

To Prepare:

• Mix the meatball ingredients together adding just enough water to moisten the mixture; first 7 ingredients including salt and pepper. The water will keep the meatballs tender. It should be a little wet, and the water will absorb into the meat. There should be no excess water.

• Form the meat into spheres. The size is up to you. I like them on the smaller side, about 1.5 inch in diameter.

• In a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven, on Medium heat, add the olive oil. When oil just starts to sizzle, add the meatballs and pan fry, turning them until they are browned on all sides. They do not need to be cooked all the way through because they will continue to cook in the sauce.

• Remove them from the pot and set aside. You will make the sauce in the same pot (bonus - it’s a one pot meal). Leave all the meat bits and oil in the pot. This will season the sauce.

Super Simple Sauce:

• To the Dutch oven, on medium heat, add the fresh salsa. The fresher it looks the better. It will seem a little watery but that will get fixed with the addition of the tomato sauce. Click here to make your own Salsa.

• After it’s heated through and cooked down for about 5 minutes, add 1 individual package (8 oz) of Tomato Sofrito. You can find it in the Hispanic section of the supermarket. If you can’t find this, add a small can of Mexican Style tomato sauce.

  • Note: If you have any trouble finding the salsa or sofrito, you can improvise. Use a 28 oz can of red chile sauce or enchilada sauce, or even just pureed tomatoes. If all you can find is pureed tomatoes, add more spices (Cumin, Cayenne, Cilantro, Oregano) to give it depth.

• Cook for an additional 10 minutes. The sauce should have deepened in color and thickened.

• Return the meatballs to the pot with sauce and cook until they are heated and cooked through. Be gentle with them so they don’t break. About 5 - 8 more minutes on medium to medium-high heat. The sauce should be at a consistent medium simmer. If you want the broth more “soupy”, then add a little more water, and cook through until water is incorporated and hot.

• Serve over rice. Fresh cilantro and/or avocado add a special finishing touch.