Albondigas Recipe

The first thing you notice about these Spanish albondigas is the contrast: tender meatballs made with a beef-and-pork mixture, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, and parsley simmered in a savory tomato sauce sharpened with dry sherry. The sherry gives the sauce a distinctly Spanish character without making it taste sweet or heavy, and it works especially well with the richness of the pork. This is a straightforward dinner, but the combination feels more considered than a standard meatball-in-tomato-sauce recipe. I like to mix the meat just until the breadcrumbs and egg disappear into it; overworking the mixture makes the meatballs firm instead of soft. Four cloves of garlic and two tablespoons of chopped parsley season the meat from the inside, while the diced onion forms the base of the sauce. Shape the mixture into fairly small meatballs so they cook evenly and are easy to scoop up with sauce. Browning them first is worth the extra pan time: the browned surfaces hold together during simmering and leave savory bits behind for the onion and tomato sauce to pick up. The main practical trick is to avoid crowding the pan. If the meatballs are packed together, they steam rather than brown, so work in batches if necessary. They do not need to be cooked through at this stage; a few minutes on each side is enough to color them. Once the onion has softened, stir in the tomato sauce and sherry, scrape up any browned bits, and return the meatballs to the pan. Let everything simmer gently for about 20 minutes. A vigorous boil can toughen the meat and make the sauce splatter, while a low simmer gives the meatballs time to finish cooking and absorb the sauce. This recipe takes about 25 minutes of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking, and the six servings make it ideal for a relaxed family dinner or a table of friends. Serve the albondigas with crusty bread for soaking up the sherry-scented tomato sauce, or spoon them over rice, roasted potatoes, or simple egg noodles. A green salad dressed with vinegar helps balance the richness. They also reheat beautifully, and I often make them earlier in the day—the sauce seems even better after a few hours, provided the meatballs are warmed gently rather than boiled.