Bilbao-style meatballs (Albóndigas a la bilbaína)

Although this picture doesn´t do the meatballs much justice and I can´t say much for my presentation here, but it is a delicious dish, trust me!! There are so many meatball recipes and this is my latest favourite. It is adapted from a recipe from the book Las 1000 Mejores Recetas de Cocina.

Ingredients (serves 2)

250 g pork &veal/beef mince (I had just under 200g)
1 slice of bread (made into crumbs) or 25g breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten (only use half of it)
2 garlic cloves,finely chopped
oil
1tsp dried or frozen parsley
salt & pepper to taste
flour
1tbsp milk
Sauce:
1/2 medium sized onion,sliced
1-2 carrots, finely sliced
1tbsp olive oil
20g tomato sauce
1 (Oxo)beef stock cube made up to 1/4 cup
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
1tbsp flour

Method:

1. Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk, then place mince, breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and egg in a bowl and mix until combined.
2. Form into round balls of equal size and roll in flour.
3. Fry onions and carrots in 1tbsp olive oil till soft.
4. Mix the tablespoon of flour to the beef stock and add to onion and carrots.
5. Add tomato sauce and wine and season with salt and pepper-cook on a medium heat for 15-20mins till sauce thickens as shown in picture below:



6.While sauce in cooking, heat abundant olive oil in a small frying pan and when hot, add meatballs until browned.
7.Drain meatballs in kitchen roll to get rid of excess oil and then add to the sauce.
6. Cook for a further 20 mins in sauce until meatballs and carrots are cooked through.
7. Serve with potatoes, pasta or rice.(I´m not sure if traditionally these meatballs are served with anything in Bilbao but I like to eat it with one of the aforementioned carbohydrates!) Enjoy!

Look out for my upcoming posts about Mixed Mushroom Thai Red Curry and my review of a Sugarcraft DVD!