Meatballs in sauce

Meatballs have been part of our gastronomy since the Arabs taught us how to make them more than 500 years ago. In fact, meatball comes from the word al-bunduqa , which means “the ball.” You can imagine then that being such an old dish, there are multiple variants of it and that we can find meatballs in many countries around the world.

The version that I bring you today is perhaps one of the simplest and most classic ways to prepare them: meatballs in their sauce . It is a traditional dish, without many complications and that will always turn out well. I think a key aspect to making them so tasty is that I cook them in my cocotte. For these types of stews, I like to use my low cocotte . Being made of cast iron, it perfectly distributes the heat throughout its base and the stews are cooked evenly.

For this recipe I recommend that you use mixed pork and beef. The meatballs are much juicier and softer than using only beef.

Evolution Le Creuset round cocotte

Ingredients

To season the meat

• 500gr minced meat mix of beef and pork
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
• salt
• flour

For the sauce

• 1 Figueres onion
• ½ leek
• 3 carrots
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika from La Vera
• 500ml water
• 200ml white wine
• Olive oil
• Salt

For the bite

• 1 clove of fried garlic
• 2 almonds
• 2 hazelnuts
• 4 sprockets
• 2 peaks of bread
• The yolk of a hard-boiled egg

Elaboration

1. Season the meat of the meatballs, to do this, put the minced meat, a clove of finely chopped garlic, the chopped parsley, a pinch of black pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of salt, the egg and the bread in a bowl. grated. Mix well with the help of a fork until all the ingredients are well integrated.
2. To shape the meatballs, you can use this meatball tongs from Kitchen Craft . This way they will all come out the same size.
3. Dredge the meatballs in flour and fry them in a pan in plenty of olive oil until golden brown. When you finish frying all the meatballs, fry the clove of garlic that you will use in the mince for a few minutes.
4. Peel and cut the carrots into slices and put them in the cocotte . Also add the meatballs that you just fried and set aside.
5. Strain the oil you used to fry the meatballs (with a strainer or an oil drainer ) and return 4 tablespoons to the pan. In it, sauté the chopped onion and leek with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes over medium heat.
6. Add a tablespoon of flour and sauté for a couple of minutes. Also add the sweet paprika, stir a few times and add the water.
7. Pour this sauce into the cocotte where you have the meatballs and carrots and put it on the heat. Add a pinch of salt and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
8. Prepare the mince by mashing all the ingredients in a mortar .
9. Add the white wine and the minced meat to the cocotte and let everything cook for 10 minutes before serving. Adjust salt, if necessary.

Le Creuset Damascus steel knife and Le Creuset low cocotte

GRADES

• You can accompany these meatballs with some fried potatoes, a little white rice or even cooked quinoa. Whatever accompaniment you choose, you will surely love it and you will repeat this recipe many times.
• To make the recipe I used the Le Creuset low cocotte , which is a little less tall than the "normal" round cocotte , but in exactly the same way you can use one or the other - the results with them are fabulous!