Blue Cheese Meatballs

[bryanbr23]

From José Pizarro Albondigas are hugely popular all over Spain, and the favorite way of making them is with tomato sauce. Bu my dad loves them with onion sauce and chips, so thats the way we always have them. My variation on my mother's recipe is the addition of blue cheese to the meatballse.

Serves 4 (24 meat balls)

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

• 375g Ground Beef
• 375g Ground Pork
• 1 Clove Garlic, finely choppsed
• 2 Large Eggs Beaten
• 50ml dry white wine
• Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
• 5 Flat-leaf parsley sprigs chopped
• 100g Blue Cheese (Rocquefort or Stilton; the harder the better)
• 50g flour, for dusting

For the Onion Sauce

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp Plain Flour
• 600ml chicken stock, warmed
• 5 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, chopped
• 40g flaked toasted almonds

Method

1. Mix the meats, garlic, eggs, wine, seasoning, and parsley. The easiest way to do this is with your hands -- really squish everything together thoroughly. Leave the mixture for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to develop. Take gold ball size pieces of the mixutre - about 30g -- and roll them into a neat ball: you should make about 24.
2. Break up the cheese into small nuggets. Take a meatball in one hand, and with your other hand use your thumb to mak e hole in the meatball. Add a piece of cheese and close up the hold by pinching the meat mixture together . Roll the meatball again and make sure the cheese is fully covered
3. in the meat. Repeat until all the meatballs have a piece of cheese in the middle. Next, roll the meatballs in the flour.
4. Take a medium-sized frying pan and pour in enough olive oil to come half way up the meatballs. Heat the oil over a medium heat and once it is hot, fry the meatballs in batches, about 5 or 6 at a time. Allow 1 minute on each side. Drain them on kitchen paper and keep warm.
5. To make the onoin sauce, saute the onion in the olive oil until soft but not coloured. This will take about 5 minutes. Add the flour, stire and cook for another minute, before adding the warm stock. Season, stir well and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove any frother that comes to the surface. Use a hand blender and blitz the sauce to give it a smooth consistency. Bring the sauce back to a simmer, add the meatballs and cook for another minute.
6. Divide the meatballs and sauce between four warmed bowls, scatter with the almonds and parsley and eat immediately. And, of course, this is excellent with chips!