To complete the quintet of tapas this week, what would be more fitting for the FatSteak Club than Albondigas.
Big meatballs in a rich and smokey tomato sauce.

I'm not sure I've ever gone to a tapas joint and been able to pass up on choosing this small plate.
The nice thing about this dish is that you can just have more of them and turn it into a big plate!
I always make too many (which is subjective) so that I have plenty left over. They work great as a small plate or as a main dish served with your favourite carb.

This version is adapted from one of my favourite Spanish cookbooks, 1080. I prefer my own sauce with these as I like it a bit smokey and also a lot more of it.

These meatballs work in pretty much any tomato sauce and can be as simple or as rich as you like, it's the balls that are the heroes here.

Step 1 - Make your mix

• Finely chop the garlic
• Chop the parsley, keeping a little aside for serving
• In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs
• Add the pork and beef mince, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, wine, salt and chopped parsley
• Get stuck in with your hands to bring it all together, make sure the ingredients are evenly mixed

Step 2 - Prep your balls

• Before you get cupping, heat a heavy based pan with about 3/4 inch of rapeseed or sunflower oil
• Roll your balls, I use an American 1/4 cup measure as a guide to get even amounts of mince
• Liberally roll them in flour and dust them off

Step 3 - Fry them off

• With the oil nice and hot, fry off the balls in batches until they are browned and have a nice crisp on the outside
• Pop them on some kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil
• Keep to one side until 20 minutes before you want to serve

Step 4 - Sauce up

• Chop up your onions and garlic
• In a pan, brown off the onions in a little oil and butter but don't let them catch
• Add the garlic and stir, cooking for roughly 2 minutes, again don't let it burn
• Once the garlic is browned, add the plum tomatoes (If whole you can give them a very quick whizz in the blender first)
• Add a generous splash of sherry vinegar and 1 or 2 tsps of smoked paprika
• Stir well and cook for 15 minutes until it's all come together
• Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper, taste, and give it a good stir

Step 5 - Bring it all together

• With the sauce starting to thicken up, cram in the balls and give them a gentle stir to give them a good coating
• Cover for 20 minutes on a low heat

Step 5 - Serve

• Serve with the sauce over and garnished with some fresh chopped parsley.

Albondigas

The balls

• A decent handful of parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 eggs
• 500g minced beef (not too lean)
• 500g pork mince
• 8 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 6 tbsp white wine (beer also works well)
• Pinch of salt
• Plain flour for coating
• Rapeseed oil for shallow frying

The Sauce

• 2 onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tin plum tomatoes
• Sherry vinegar
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• Salt and pepper