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Albondigas
My father in law is coming to dinner tonight so in order to be able to give him some good food, I started cooking a day ahead… Always good, so I can actually take a photo in between also… (and taste the goodies…lol) And because it’s always fun to make several little dishes the plan was to create a tapas feast.
Normally I first think about the food, but in this case I started with the wine first. I bought a bottle of Berberana rioja after Tom had extensively tested it last week during a BBQ with our friend Marco, who happens to have Spanish roots. It’s a strong wine, so it needs bold flavors to go along with it.
Wine pairing
So I posted a tweet for some tapas inspiration and I started thinking about pairing this with one of my favorite tapas dishes, albondigas. Now you really don’t need to be a master in the kitchen to make a few little meatballs, but the fun part about Albondigas is that you can use so many flavors in the meat! I had never tried adding bits of cripsy baked chorizo into the meat but I figured it might be delicious.
So in terms of being authentic Spanish in this recipe… Uhm… probably not, as I just mixed and matched with the flavors that I know I like. They’re spicy little fellows so you might want some other more mellow dishes to cool things down.
These albondigas would also go really well with the chorizo in wine and the patatas bravas. We had them with dates wrapped in bacon and baked in the oven and some other delicious goodies we came up with. I kind of forgot my father in law doesn’t like too spicy but he was happy to munch on the albondigas so I guess not too spicy.
Albondigas with a twist
Ingredients
- 350 gr ground meat I used half beef, half pork
- 50 gr chorizo in small cubes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- Pinch of ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground chili
- 1 tsp black pepper
- handful of parsley chopped
- 15 gr almond flour
- 400 gr tomato cubes (from a tin)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 onion chopped in rings
- 1 tsp ground chili
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Put the meat into a bowl and start by baking the chorizo until the fat comes out and the chorizo becomes crispy. Leave to drain on kitchen paper and put into a processor to blend into smaller bits.
- Add to the meat bowl. Add your spices (smoked paprika, garlic, ginger, chili, coriander, the parsley and the egg to the bowl as well and mix everything well. If it is too wet (and mine was) you can add some almond flour or regular breadcrumbs if you want.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan and bake your meatballs brown.
- In the meantime chop your garlic and onion and heat a larger pan (the balls will go in there as well) and gently cook the onion and garlic until soft. Once that is done, your meatballs will likely be nicely browned so add them to the garlic/onion mix and add the can of tomatoes too. add the ground chili, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for about ten minutes until the meat is cooked. Check for salt and pepper and adjust where needed.
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Stumbled across this gem from Foodgawker. They are delicious 🙂 And practically made to go with a glass of red wine. I made some a spanish cauliflower/kale dish I also found on Foodgawker to serve on the side and the meatballs were the star. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Susan! Glad you enjoyed them..:)
i have never heard or even tried albondigas before! definitely inspired to recreate the recipe, they look delicious! thanks for sharing.. you learn something new every day!
And they are so delicious Thalia! hope you get to make them one day!
This is one of my most favorite recipes. In Tucson, I loved ordering it at my favorite Mexican restaurants. Your addition of chorizo is fabulous! Delicious, Hugs, Terra
We were at a tapas restaurant last week, and had planned to get the albondigas — but got too full! So never ordered them. Good thing, because even though we were craving them, it’s incentive to make this. 😉 Good stuff — thanks.
I had never even heard of Albondigas! *bad food blogger* they sound delicious. I need to try these out and buy a bottle of splosh to try them with too of course!
Love the chorizo twist Simone! great idea! These like delicious 😉
A great dish, Simone! And I am sure your albondigas pair perfectly with Rioja! I love Rioja wines too.
Hugs,
Sandy
O good! I’m glad you approve! It’s always good to have the opinion of someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. And yes I do love rioja! Hugs!