Albóndigas en Salsa (Spanish Meatballs in Sauce)

Method

1. Tear the bread into small pieces, put it in a bowl, pour over the milk and leave it to soak for 5 min, until soft enough to mash with a fork. Meanwhile, finely mince the garlic for the meatballs and chop the parsley.

   Add in this stepDay-old white bread, crusts removed 25 gMilk 40 ml

2. If the bread is very wet, squeeze out a little milk, then add the beef, pork, beaten egg (half an egg means beat 1 egg and use half), garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix with your hand for about a minute, until slightly sticky and holding together, then roll walnut-sized balls (about 3 cm) with wet hands; it makes ≈11 × 30 g. Wash your hands and anything the raw meat has touched.

   Add in this stepMinced beef 125 gMinced pork 125 gEgg ½Garlic for the meatballs 1Chopped parsley 2 tbspSalt ½ tspBlack pepper 1 pinch

3. Spread the flour on a plate, roll each meatball in it and tap off the excess. The thin coat helps them brown and later thickens the sauce slightly.

   Add in this stepFlour for coating 25 g

4. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat (pan size · number of batches: 24 cm · 1×). It is ready at about 170 °C, when a pinch of flour sizzles at once. Add the meatballs without crowding and fry for 6 min per batch, turning them, until browned all over; they finish cooking in the sauce. Lower them in gently with a spoon, away from you, so the oil doesn't splash, and keep a lid nearby. Set them aside on a plate.

   Add in this stepOlive oil (pure) for frying 80 ml

   medium-high heat

5. Pour off the oil, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the finely chopped onion and carrot and the sliced garlic and cook over medium heat for 10 min, scraping up the browned bits, until soft and lightly golden.

   Add in this stepOnion (medium) 1Carrot 70 gGarlic for the sauce 1

   medium heat

6. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until no dry flour remains. Pour in the wine and let it bubble over medium-high heat for 2 min, until the sharp alcohol smell is gone. Add the stock and bay leaf, turn the heat to medium-low heat and simmer for 10 min, until the carrot is very soft.

   Add in this stepFlour for the sauce 2 tspDry white wine 75 mlChicken stock 250 mlBay leaf 1

   medium-high heat→medium-low heat

7. Remove the bay leaf and blend the sauce smooth with a stick blender (in a jug blender, fill it no more than halfway and hold the lid down with a towel). Pour it into a 22 cm pan or casserole, add the meatballs and their juices, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 min, turning them once. Cut one open: it should no longer be pink inside (71 °C). Season with salt and serve with chips, rice or crusty bread.

   Add in this stepSalt for the sauce to taste

   low heat