If you have never had the pleasure of dipping into a romesco sauce, now is the time. This is a Catalan dish, full of robust flavours like roasted capsicum, almond, paprika and garlic. It’s somehow moreish and deeply satisfying at the same time. Though here I’ve chosen to serve it as a dipping sauce for the tastiest meatballs ever, the kids love romesco stirred through pasta, making it a healthy vegetarian meal option that’s nice and quick for week days.
About those meat balls. They appear simple and harmless, but they are in fact the tastiest little morsels around. You will need to make several extra because you’ll eat at least four straight out the oven plus you’ll want leftovers to make a meat ball sandwich tomorrow. Trust me, make lots of extras.
Just in case you are not a family of greedies like us, I’ve included ideas for using up leftovers after each recipe.
Romesco sauce
A drizzle of olive oil
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1 slice of white bread, rustically torn into pieces
1/2 a chargrilled capsicum, roughly chopped (about 100gm if you’re buying it in)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 large garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons apera (which is Aussie for sherry)
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, toss in the almonds and toast until golden. Remove the almonds from the pan. Toss in the bread and cook until golden on the edges.
Once the almonds and bread are both cooled, put them into a food processor along with the capsicum, paprika, garlic, apera and tomatoes. Blend until almost smooth, definitely not pureed. A little texture is nice. You may need to add an extra drizzle of olive oil if the mix looks too dry. Remove from the food processor and serve any way you like (see below). A jar of romesco will keep in the fridge for a week or more.
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How to serve your romesco sauce:
- As a dipping sauce for meatballs (see meatball recipe below) or vegetables
- Mix the meatballs into the sauce and serve over rice
- Served with fish (the dish was originally made by fishermen in northeastern Spain to go with their fish)
- Stir through hot pasta
- Use instead of butter on a ham sandwich
- As a sauce for a lamb shanks dish
- Instead of tomato sauce, anywhere, anytime
- Add some chillis into the food processor to make a hot and spicy version
Best-ever tasty meatballs
500gm beef mince
3/4 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
Season the beef as you like it. Tip all the ingredients into a bowl in the order listed above. Mush the lot up really, really well then roll the meatballs into balls. For meatballs the size above, you’ll need about a tablespoon of mix for each ball. To make rolling easier, keep your hands slightly damp.
You can cook your meatballs three ways:
1. Pan fry: in olive oil for about 8-10 minutes until cooked through. Fry in batches of about eight meatballs per batch.
2. Oven bake: Preheat your fan-force oven to about 170°C. Put the meatballs on a tray lined with baking paper and pop into the oven for about 20-25 minutes until cooked through.
3. Boil: My MIL’s favourite way to cook meatballs. Simply add the raw meatballs to a big pot of your favourite pasta sauce and allow them to cook through.
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How to use up leftover meatballs:
- Make an oh la la meatball sandwich
- Make spaghetti and meatballs
- Make meatball pizza
- Make a meatball casserole
- Make Italian meatball soup
What’s your favourite way to serve meatballs?
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Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid says
These look sooooo good! I’m totally pinning this and adding it to my must make list!
Malinda @mybrownpaperpackages says
I’m loving the look of that romesco sauce or dip. Yum!
sarah@Tomfo says
Dang… that looks darn fine. Pinned this to my dinner ideas spot. Thank you, have a fab mothers day on the weekend. x
Lucy @ Bake Play Smile says
These meatballs sounds amazing! I love the idea of making the sauce and using it for a few different meals!
Lauren @ Create Bake Make says
We’re a family of greedies so there wouldn’t be any leftovers for us! I can just see my boys eating these with their hands 🙂
Mrs W says
I made this last night for dinner for the first time, stirred through pasta. Soooo delicious. Hubby went back for seconds!
Maxabella says
It’s delicious, it’s true!