Meatballs with pasilla chile sauce (Albóndigas en chile pasilla)
A more refined recipe for albondigas, served and simmered in a very mexican sauce with many different chiles. This delicious meatballs recipe yields 6-8 servings using these quantities, they make a great appetizer (as shown on photo below) or main dish when simmered in the sauce and served with vegetables.
Meatballs with pasilla sauce recipe:
Ingredients
For the albondigas themselves:
* 1 cup chopped slices of bread
* 1/2 cup of milk
* 2.2 lb. [1 kg] ground lean beef
* 1 egg, beaten
* 4 tbsp very finely chopped onion
* 1/2 cup of uncooked and washed rice
* 1/2 teaspoon cumin
* 1 pinch of pepper
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
For the sauce:
* 2 chilies pasilla
* 1 chile morita
* 2 ancho chiles
* 2 dried chiles de arbol
* 3 big red tomatoes
* 1 cup peeled and washed green tomatoes (tomatillos)
* 1 garlic clove
* 1 small onion
* 1 tablespoon butter or some oil
* 1 sprig of epazote
* 2 cups chicken or beef broth
As side:
* 3-4 cups cooked mexican-style red rice
* A few cilantro leaves to decorate
Preparation
2) For the sauce, remove stems and seeds from all chiles. In a pan, fry all the ingredients for the sauce, except the broth and epazote.
3) Blend the above ingredients using a blender, gradually adding the broth until the desired thickness is reached; this sauce should not be too liquid. Simmer the sauce over low heat and bring to a boil. When it boils, add the meatballs and epazote.
4) Make the meatballs simmer in the chile sauce over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, so we are sure the rice in them is thoroughly cooked. Alternatively, you could also make the meatballs roast in the oven at 325 °F (165 °C) for 25 minutes, after having seared them over the stove in oil (as shown on photo).
Prepare each plate with 3 albondigas each, pour some sauce over them then place some compacted mexican rice shaped by a ramekin, decorate with cilantro leaves. Serve warm.
