Southwestern Recipes
Albondigas con Chipotle
(Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce)
Ingredients
- 6 fresh, ripe tomatoes, halved
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 whole cloves garlic
- 3 eggs
- 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
- Sea salt, to taste
- Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 chipotle chiles in adobo
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- To roast tomatoes, grill or broil them as close to heat as possible, turning as needed, until skin is blackened in spots, about 3 minutes on each side. Cool.
- When cool enough to handle, remove skins. Reserve.
- Combine beef, bread crumbs, chopped garlic, eggs, 2 teaspoons cumin, salt and pepper. Cover mixture, and let chill in refrigerator.
- In a blender or food processor, blend reserved tomatoes with chipotles, stock, whole garlic cloves, remaining cumin and oregano.
- Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Add the tomato sauce, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and bring mixture to a boil.
- Meanwhile, make uniform medium-size meatballs from meat mixture. Add meatballs to simmering sauce and cook about 25 minutes.
- Serve as an entree over rice, or alone as an hors d'oeuvre.