Albóndigas a la Mexicana (meatballs)

Albóndigas a la Mexicana by Cool Chile

The Spanish brought this Moorish influenced dish with them when they conquered Mexico (however the Mexicans do not fry their meatballs, they poach them in the sauce). Usually the meat is bound with egg and breadcrumbs, but in this recipe we have swapped for raw potato (which makes them soft & tender) and crushed corn chips (for extra flavour). Another Mexican trick is to stuff each meatball with a piece of hardboiled egg, an olive, or our favourite is to use a piece of pickled jalapeño which means each meatball has that added little kick of heat! The dish is usually served as a stew with a little rice in a bowl and corn tortillas on the side to mop up any leftover sauce.

Serves 4 persons (approx. 16 meatballs).

For the meatballs:

500g ground beef or pork (or a mix of the two)

50g potato (peeled, raw and grated)

1/4 -1/2 small onion, approx. 35g (raw and grated)

20g corn chips (finely crushed)

1-2 cloves of garlic (raw and grated)

12g mint or parsley leaves (picked off stalk and finely chopped)

20g Recado de Achiote Paste (loosen with 2 tbsp of juice from tin of tomatoes)

1/2 tsp salt

For stuffing meatballs (optional):

1 egg (hard boiled, cut into 16 pieces)

16 green pimento stuffed olives

2 Pickled Jalapeños (cut into 16 pieces)

For the sauce:

1 tin whole peeled plum tomatoes (2 tbsp of juice reserved for meatballs)

500ml of water or stock

1/2 small onion, approx. 50g (peeled and chopped)

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1-2 tbsp Chipotles in Adobo (or 2 tsp Chile Chipotle Diced, or to taste)

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp Mexican Oregano

1tsp salt (or to taste depending on stock used)

2 courgettes (cut into batons)

2 carrots (cut into batons)

To serve:

Cooked rice

8-12 Soft Corn Tortillas

To make the meatballs:

Place all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl and mix together with your hands. Divide the meat into 35g portions (approx. 16 balls). If you are choosing to stuff your meatballs, push a piece of your chosen stuffing into the centre of each ball and re-roll the meat again into a ball to seal around the stuffing. Place on a plate until they are all rolled.

To make the sauce:

Put the tin of tomatoes plus the juice (minus the 2 tablespoons used for loosening the achiote paste) raw onion and garlic into a plastic jug and blitz with a stick blender until smooth. Heat the oil in a wide bottom saucepan until very hot, then add the sauce, being careful as the sauce will sear and fry causing lots of spitting. Stir and cook until sauce becomes thicker and darker in colour. Then add the water or stock, chipotles in adobo or the Chile Chipotle dice, and the Mexican oregano. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes to allow flavours to develop. Gently lower the meatballs, one at a time, into the sauce, jiggling the pan to roll each ball in the hot liquid so it 'sets' them. After 10-15 minutes add the batons of courgette and carrot. Again jiggle (stirring may break up the meatballs) the pan so to cover the vegetables in the sauce. Cook for a further 20 minutes on a gentle heat. Try the sauce and adjust seasoning with salt to taste.

Serve meatballs with plenty of sauce in a bowl with a little cooked rice and freshly warmed soft corn tortillas.

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Suggestion:

Any meatballs and sauce leftover can be made into a delicious torta (a Mexican sandwich). Take a good crusty bread roll, split open, stuff with meatballs and pour over plenty of sauce. Serve with corn chips and a slice of lime (see below).