Meatballs in Saffron-Almond Sauce
Ingredients
· 7 oz ground beef
· 7 oz ground pork
· 1 oz stale bread, without crusts (2 slices)
· 1 small clove garlic, minced
· 1½ tbsp minced onion
· 1 tbsp chopped parsley
· ¼ tsp salt
· Freshly grated nutmeg
· 1 small egg, beaten
· Flour
· 1¾ fl oz olive oil
· 20 almonds, blanched and skinned
· ½ oz bread
· 1½ tbsp olive oil
· 5 peppercorns
· ¼ tsp saffron
· 1 clove
· ¼ tsp salt
· 2 ½ oz white wine
· 9 fl oz stock
· Lemon juice
· Chopped parsley
· Slivered fried almonds
Instructions
Combine the ground meats in a bowl.
Soak the sliced bread in sufficient milk to cover until soft. Squeeze out the milk and add the bread to the meat with the garlic, onion, parsley, salt, nutmeg and egg.
Knead well to make a smooth mixture and form into small balls, roll them in flour and fry very slowly in hot oil until browned on all sides. Remove and drain on kitchen towel. The oil can be strained and used for the sauce.
Fry the almonds, bread and garlic in the oil until golden, transfer to a bowl. Crush the peppercorns, saffron, clove and salt, add the toasted almonds, bread and garlic (or place in a processor) with the wine to make a smooth paste.
Combine this mixture in the pan with remaining oil and the stock over a medium heat, bring to a boil, then add the meatballs, simmer for about 20 minutes in the sauce, adding a little additional liquid if required.
Squeeze a little lemon juice over the meatballs and sprinkle with chopped parsley and fried almonds. Yield – 18 meatballs.