Cuban Meatballs Recipe (Albondigas)

Steps

1. 1Start by making your sofrito in a large saute pan with your heat on medium. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of avocado oil to start (you will need more later). Add the onion, sazon, salt and freshly cracked pepper. Cook together for another 2-3 minutes until softened but without getting too much color. Then add the peppers and another 4 tablespoons of oil. Cook for a couple of minutes until softened. Then add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes while being careful that it doesn’t burn. Incorporate everything together and remove the sofrito from the pan. Set aside.
2. 2In a blender, add ONLY 1 cup of sofrito. If it is still warm, remove the insert from the top of the blender so the steam has somewhere to go before blending. Blend the sofrito together with the zucchini, milk and the ¼ cup of the parsley. It should be completely smooth.
3. 3In a bowl, spread out the ground beef so it is in one layer. Add salt and pepper, the blended sofrito, the eggs, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, a teaspoon of salt and almond flour.
4. 4Now you can finally mix. But don’t overmix (see above). You want everything to blend together, but you don’t want to over work the mixture or it will get very tough. If at this point you find the mixture is very wet, add another ¼ cup of breadcrumbs. It should be moist but stay together when you make a ball.
5. 5Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out each meatball with an ice cream scooper and shape into a ball with your hands. Set them on the parchment paper and separate them about 1 to 1 ½ inches apart.
6. 6In the same pan you made the sofrito add enough oil to barely cover the bottom of the pan. You are not deep frying, but you do need enough oil to be sure the meatballs don’t stick. Heat the oil to medium/ medium high. Working in batches, start dropping the meatballs delicately in the oil. Using two spoons start turning them on all sides until they are golden brown. You need to work quickly here since the temperature is high and you want to maintain as much of a round shape as possible. Don’t cook them through! It’s only a sear.
7. 7Remove back onto the sheet pan when most sides are golden, but they are still raw on the inside. Set them aside on a plate. Remove all the oil in the pan and discard.
8. 8Add the remaining sofrito that was cooked and was not blended. Then add the tomato sauce, a can of Cuban tomato sauce and vino seco. Start temperature on high and once it starts to boil add in bay leaves and 2 cups of chicken broth. Leave the temperature as is, and cook everything down on a boil for about 10 minutes.
9. 9Add the meatballs and nestle them into the sauce. It will start to boil again and once it does, drop the temperature to low, cover the pan and simmer for 12-15 minutes.
10. 10Add the olives and chopped parsley. Delicately mix the sauce being careful not to break up the meatballs.