Meatballs with Almond Sauce

Seriously good meatballs…

1hr30

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

• 450g lamb mince
• 1 large onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 55g bread (no crusts)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh leaf parsley (more for serving)
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper
• plain flour
• freshly squeezed lemon

For the sauce:

• 25g bread
• 115 blanched almonds (whole/flaked)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 150ml dry white wine
• 425ml vegetable stock
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Instructions:

Place bread in a bowl with a few tbsp of water to soak for a few minutes. Then squeeze water out of bread and combine with the lamb mince, onion, garlic, parsley & egg, and lightly season.

With floured hands form 2-3cm meatballs and coat in flour.

 Fry the meatballs in batchs until browned on all sides and remove to a plate. Retain the juices in the pan.

Break the bread into pieces and add to the pan with the almonds and 2 tbsp of olive oil, and fry for a few mins until golden.

Add the garlic and fry for a further 30 seconds, then pour in the wine and boil for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and leave to cool slightly.

Transfer the almond mixture to a blender and process until smooth adding the vegetable stock.

Return sauce to the frying pan with the meatballs and simmer for 25 minutes.

Taste the sauce and season as desired. Then serve with a generous squeeze of lemon and parsley, crusty bread and salad.

TIP: Lamb mince can be replaced with pork or beef, but isn’t as tasty in my opinion!

Adapted from “A passion for Tapas”

Cheese & Mushroom Croquettes

Tasty little spanish-style croquettes filled with a mouth-watering soft cheese sauce… Mmm…

30+20+20 min (about 3 hr with breaks)

Ingredients:

• 800ml milk
• ½ onion (not chopped)
• 5 cloves
• ½ tsp black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 50g mushrooms, finely chopped
• 150g cheese (gruyere or something similar)
• 100g butter
• 150g plain flour
• 3 eggs
• 250g fine breadcrumbs (blend breadsticks if you cannot find this)
• olive oil for shallow frying

Instructions:

Boil the milk, onion, cloves, peppercorns and bay leaves in a saucepan for 15 minutes.

Strain to remove all bits (onion, cloves etc.) and return only liquid to pan. Add mushrooms and boil for further 5 minutes.

In a separate saucepan melt the butter over a low heat. Stir in the flour and cook briefly for 30 seconds.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk and mushrooms bit by bit, stirring continuously to avoid clumping.

Add the cheese and return to the heat until the sauce thickens (if it hasn’t already) and boils. Taste and season with salt as desired (usually around ½ tsp).

Turn off heat, and pour or scoop onto a baking tray/dish to cool completely.

To make the croquettes, shape 1 teaspoon of cold mix into an oval, scooping from one to another until well-shaped. Then gently dip into the egg and then the breadcrumbs. (You can keep half the mixture in fridge till the next day if you run out of time!). Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat about 1cm of oil in a frying pan and fry croquettes in batches of 5/6. Keep rolling over until golden brown on all sides and take out onto a plate with kitchen towel, keeping warm in a low oven if necessary.

Serve cold or warm as a main meal (serves 4) or tapas dish.

TIP: They are also tasty when mushrooms are replaced with ham.

Adapted from “Moro” by Sam & Sam Clark.