RecipeTin Eats’ smoky Spanish meatballs in chorizo sauce is a fast trip to flavour town

Name: RecipeTin Eats’ smoky Spanish meatballs in chorizo sauce is a fast trip to flavour town
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 1 chorizo, cut in half then sliced 1.5cm thick; 6 truss tomato, core removed, cut into quarters (see note); 1 capsicum, cut into 5cm x 2cm chunks; 4 whole garlic cloves, skins removed; ½ onion, skin removed and cut in half; 1 tbsp smoked paprika; 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 tsp cooking salt; ½ tsp black pepper

RecipeTin Eats

June 6, 2023

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:4

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just another meatball recipe. These Spanish-inspired balls have an alluring smoky flavour from paprika and a flavour kick from chorizo.

I love how the sauce is made here – by roasting vegetables with the chorizo then blitzing everything together in a food processor. It’s easy, with a big flavour pay-off.

The SOS checklist

Fewer than 12 ingredients (excluding oil, salt, pepper and water) ✔

Ingredients

Roasted chorizo tomato sauce

1 chorizo, cut in half then sliced 1.5cm thick
6 truss tomato, core removed, cut into quarters (see note)
1 capsicum, cut into 5cm x 2cm chunks
4 whole garlic cloves, skins removed
½ onion, skin removed and cut in half
1 tbsp smoked paprika
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cooking salt
½ tsp black pepper

Meatballs

60g (1 cup) panko breadrumbs
1 onion, peeled
250g beef mince (see note)
250g pork mince (see note)
1 egg
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cooking salt
½ tsp black pepper
⅓ cup roughly chopped parsley, optional

To cook and serve

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
⅓ cup parsley leaves, optional, to serve
crusty bread or mashed potatoes to serve

Method

Step 1
To make the roasted chorizo tomato sauce, preheat the oven to 200C fan-forced (220C conventional). Toss all the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl then spread them out on a large baking tray. Roast for 25 minutes, mixing at the 15-minute and 20-minute mark, so they cook evenly. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz for 1 minute on high speed. There will be small chorizo lumps remaining – the texture is great! Set aside.
Step 2
To make the meatballs, place the panko crumbs in a bowl and grate the onion straight over using a standard box grater (see note). Toss so the onion juice soaks the crumbs. Add the remaining meatball ingredients and mix until they are all combined. Roll the mixture into 24 meatballs, about 2 tablespoons each.
Step 3
To cook the meatballs, heat the oil in a large (30cm) non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the meatballs for about 4 minutes, using dessert spoons to rotate them so they brown all over but are still pink inside. Pour the sauce over, then simmer for 10 minutes on medium heat.
Step 4
Serve over mash or with crusty bread for dunking, garnished with parsley leaves if desired.

Notes

If fresh tomatoes are out of season, substitute canned tomatoes.iStock

If tomatoes are out of season, make this with canned crushed tomato instead. You will need 600g (1½ standard 400g cans). Pour the canned tomatoes into a non-reactive baking tray and add the remaining sauce ingredients. Spread the canned tomato over the base of the tray then roast as per the recipe.
If you prefer, you can use 500g of beef, rather than 250g each of beef and pork. But adding pork will make the meatballs softer and juicier.
Soaking the breadcrumbs in grated onion is a tried-and-loved meatball-making technique I’ve been using for years. It makes the meatballs softer and tastier, and there’s no need to cook the diced onion separately before mixing it into the meatballs.