Spanish Meatballs
Spanish Meatballs
Great to share with friends or family, and easy to pair up with some pasta and roasted vegetables for a nutritious meal. Reheat well if refrigerated.
Taste: Simplicity: Cost:
Recipe by Alison Shrapnell
Tested by Ruyi Wang
Ingredients
- 500g minced beef
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 egg
- 2/3 tablespoons of Panko breadcrumbs
- 50g parmesan cheese (or strong cheddar)
- 4 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 4 tablespoons of tomato puree
Method
- To prepare the meatballs, put the minced beef into a bowl and add the onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, grated cheese, salt and pepper and mix really well. If the mixture is too wet, add more breadcrumbs; if the mixture is too dry, add another egg. Then I roll into meatball rounds. Depending on the size of meatballs you want, the mixture will make 20/25 meatballs.
- Put the flour onto a plate and coat the meatballs well with the flour. Put to one side. In a frying pan, add a splash of olive oil and fry the meatballs over a medium heat until well browned. Put on a plate with kitchen roll to soak up any excess oil.
- In a large saucepan, add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 4 tablespoons of tomato puree. On medium heat, fry the mixture, stirring constantly, until the tomato puree has cooked out, about 2/3 minutes. Take off the heat. Add 1 litre of hot water to the saucepan and stir. Put back on the heat and then add the meatballs. If the meatballs are not quite covered in the sauce, add a little more hot water. Cook on a very low heat for about an hour. I usually make this recipe the day before I need it, and the sauce thickens overnight to get a rich tomato sauce. Serve with lots of crusty bread to mop up the sauce!