Albondigas en Salsa de Almendras (Meatballs in Almond sauce)

This recipe was given to me by a Spanish friend from Malaga and honestly, it is the best Meatballs in Almond sauce I have ever tried, I used to make this a bit different, but now, I would not make this sauce any other way...If you like your Spanish food, then this is a dish you have to make!

Albondigas en salsa de Almendras (Meatballs in Amond sauce)

Ingredients for the meatballs: 

1 kilo of Minced beef or 1/2 kilo de beef & 1/2 kilo of minced pork
1 slice of white bread, without crust
Milk
100g grated Edam cheese
2 garlic cloves finely chopped or mashed with garlic crusher
1 tbsp of dried or freshly chopped Oregano
2 beaten eggs
Salt & Pepper
Plain flour for coating
Oil for frying and sealing

Ingredients for the Salsa de Almendras  (Almond sauce)

1 1/2 slices of white sliced bread without crust
100g peeled raw whole Almonds
3 peeled garlic cloves
150ml of Vino dulce de Malaga or sweet Sherry (also very good is Pedro Ximenez)
2 bay leaves
1 whole clove
6-10 whole black peppercorns
1/2 pkt of Saffron or A few fresh strands
Hot boiling water
Olive oil
Salt

Lets make the meatballs first:

1. On a plate, lay the slices of bread and pour a little milk over, enough to soak through, leave to the side for a moment. Then in a large mixing bowl, add the minced meat, oregano, grated cheese, garlic, beaten eggs and season well with salt and pepper. Get the soaked bread slices and squeeze the milk out. Crumble into the meatball mix. (This will give the meatball a moist texture, rather to using dry breadcrumbs which can make the meatball dry and hard) Mix well, using your hands and fingers. Leave aside for a few minutes to Absorb all the flavours.

Next, to prepare the salsa:

In a frying pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil, add the slices of bread, whole garlic cloves and the almonds. Fry gently, enough to toast, not burn. Then put all into a blender and blend well, add the Vino dulce (sherry) into the blender, blend again until the mix becomes a paste. Pour the paste into a large pan, add a cup of water for now, mix and keep on a low simmer. Add the bay leaves, clove, saffron and season well with salt.

Going back to the meatball mix: Prepare yourself

1 dish for flouring
1 dish for the meatballs waiting to be fried
1 dish for the fried meatballs

Make the meatball, toss in flour, coat, remove excess flour and fry in half veg oil and half olive oil, do not deep fry, but shallow fry, turning the meatball over each side until brown and seared. Put onto a plate, ready to go into the salsa. Once you have done all of them, put them into the salsa gently and add hot boiling water, enough to cover, don't worry, the salsa will thicken.
Cook for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, on medium low heat, stirring occasionally, making sure that there aren't any meatball/s sticking to the base.

Serve with potato chips, mash or rice. Que approvechen ;)

If reheating the next day and the sauce is too thick, add a tiny bit of hot water to loosen, heat on low a temperature.