My very own Albondigas!

Instead of the regular, old spaghetti and meatballs night...we opened ourselves up to a night of fun with this beautiful, "Spanish Inspired", dish. It consists of a pork sausage and prosciutto ham from our local butcher and some herbs from the local garden. The sauce is a simple one that only takes about 20 min. from start to finish. We ate this with a homemade french baguette dusted with cornmeal.

Here it is...

Meatball

1. 1 lb. fresh pork sausage (neutral flavors)


2. 1/4 c. shredded prosciutto ham


3. 2 sprigs fresh oregano chopped


4. 1/4 c. bread crumb


5. 1 1/2 large eggs


6. 1/8 c. cornmeal


7. 1 tsp. chili powder

Sofrito

1. 1 red bell pepper


2. 1 green bell pepper


3. 1 large sweet yellow onion


4. 2 - 3 cloves garlic


5. 1/4 c. red wine


6. 1 can tomato puree


7. 1 tsp. cumin


8. 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika


9. salt and pepper to taste


10. 1 can of chickpeas (add liberally)

Combine all ingredients for the meatballs and roll into desired shape. Spread out on a sheet pan and bake at 375* for about 15 min. Discard rendered fat into your empty tomato puree can. Makes about 18 meatballs.

For the sofrito, sautee the first four ingredients till transparent and add the next four ingredients in this order (taking care to deglaze the goodness on the bottom of your pan). Reduce to a sauce. Add chickpeas just before serving to heat them through. Or fry them and serve as a garnish. Enjoy!