Tag Archives: rich tomato sauce

Fingerfood, Pork, Spain

Albondigas – Spanish Meatballs

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Albondigas are Spanish meatballs that are often served as tapas. Tapas are small dishes of savoury food, more often than not, served with drinks. In 2019 we visited Spain. One of the things I was looking forward to the most was tapas. I couldn’t wait to try some… and I wasn’t disappointed!

Albondigas can be made with beef, veal or pork (or a mix with all three meats). Serve them as tapas, entree or as a main meal with rice or pasta.

Ingredients

200g mince pork

100g chorizo, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 stp sweet paprika

1 sprig of thyme

1/4 cup fine bread crumbs

1 egg

Pinch of salt

Black pepper

For the sauce

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 bay leave

1/2 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 can of tomatoes, crushed or diced

Fresh parsley

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Fry the onion, garlic and chorizo for a few minutes. Place the chorizo, onion and garlic in a bowl, add the pork mince, paprika, thyme, bread crumbs, and egg, and mix well using your hands. Take spoonfuls and roll into small, smooth meatballs, about 2cm diameter (use wet hands).

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry the balls in batches until golden brown. Remove from pan.

For the sauce

Use the same pan that you cooked the meatballs in. Remove excess oil from the pan but leave a little in the pan to use for the sauce.

Heat the pan and sauté the onion and garlic for a minute, add the paprika and cook for a minute. Add chicken stock, bay leaf and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the meatball and parsley. Gently heat until the meatballs are hot and cooked through.

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Spanish Meatballs
Cephalopod, Cooking with Local Ingredients

Stuffed Squid in a Rich Tomato Sauce

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As we sailed amongst the islands off the west coast of Borneo, we were able to purchase fish and squid from the fisherman that visit us, when we drop anchor for the night. The squid, used for this recipe, we bought off a fisherman at Pulau Bawal and the fish I use to stuff the squid was a mackerel we traded a mobile phone and a pair of sunnies for, when anchored off Pulau Genting.

Stuffed Squid in a Rich Tomato Sauce
Stuffed Squid in Rich Tomato Sauce

It had been two weeks since we had been able to get fresh fruit and veg and  I used my last fresh tomato for this recipe. At the time we had been eating rice with almost every meal. Every time I cook rice I will cook a cup of rice and I then use the left over to make rice cakes or I heat it up with curry sauce etc. This time I used it to stuff my squid.

OK so this is what I did…

I made a stuffing for the squid with:

  • about 1/2 cup of left over cooked rice
  • a small fillet of mackerel (finely chopped) about 100g
  • 1 large red chilli, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tomato, chopped,
  • 5 small asian shallots, finely chopped
  • about 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix it altogether and stuff it into the squid tubes. Close each tube with a toothpick. Cook the squid tubes for 5 mins to brown them slightly and then removed them from the pan

Stuffed Squid in a Rich Tomato Sauce
The prepared stuffed squid tubes

For the sauce…

I heated oil in the fry pan and fried:

  • 1/2 head of garlic (about 6 cloves), chopped
  • 3 small hot chillies, finely chopped
  • 1 large red chilli, chopped
  • 8 small asian shallots, chopped
  • about 80g anchovy fillets
  • 2 Tablespoons capers, chopped

Shallots, garlic, chilli and lots of anchovy!
Shallots, garlic, chilli and lots of anchovy!

I fried this until it was cooked and the garlic and shallots had softened. I then added:

  • 1 can of tomatoes, diced
  • 3 Tbs tomato paste
  • dried italian herbs and black pepper to taste.

I brought it to the boil and then simmered the sauce for about 15 minutes, after which I added the stuffed squid tubes. I then simmered it until the flavours had developed into a rich, spicy, flavoursome sauce and the squid were cooked through (adding water as necessary). I served the squid with rice.

Stuffed Squid in a Rich Tomato Sauce
Stuffed Squid in a Rich Tomato Sauce

The left overs

I used the left over sauce the next day with some mackerel fillets. I cooked the mackerel then added the sauce to the pan with the fish and simmered until heated through. I served it with pasta. Yum!