Sardine meatballs in tomato sauce
Spain on a Fork · ♥ 732 likes · 8.5K views · 8 min video
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 2 can canned sardines in olive oil
Drain two cans of sardines into a fine sieve over a bowl and shake off the excess oil, reserving the oil.
Sardine meatballs in tomato sauce
Break the sardines apart in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until they are little chunks.
- 35 g plain breadcrumbs
- 2 whole eggs
- 40 g chopped onion
- 1 cloves garlic
- 8 g chopped parsley
- sea salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
Add the breadcrumbs, eggs, chopped onion, finely grated garlic and chopped parsley, season with sea salt and black pepper and mix until well combined.
Mash the mixture down to a paste-like texture so the ingredients are well bound and the meatballs hold their shape.
Squeeze a spoonful in the hands and shape it into a ball about the size of a golf ball. If the mixture is too wet add breadcrumbs, if too dry add whisked egg.
- 45 ml reserved olive oil
Heat a large fry pan over medium with the reserved olive oil.
- 3 cloves garlic
After a couple of minutes, once the oil is hot, add the meatballs in a single layer evenly spaced and cook about 8 to 10 minutes until golden fried all around, then remove.
In the same pan at the same heat, add three roughly chopped cloves of garlic and mix continuously for 30 to 45 seconds until fragrant, without browning it.
Garlic and paprika for the sauce
- 2½ g sweet smoked Spanish paprika
- 1¼ g hot smoked Spanish paprika
Add the sweet and hot smoked paprika and mix quickly; paprika left sitting in a hot pan turns bitter.
- 425 g tomato sauce
- sea salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- white sugar (optional)
Add the canned tomato sauce, season with sea salt and black pepper, mix and simmer about five minutes until slightly thickened. A dash of sugar, baking soda or ground cinnamon corrects a sauce that is too acidic.
Return the meatballs to the pan in a single layer, flip each one gently so it is fully coated, and simmer another two to three minutes until just heated through.
- chopped parsley
Off the heat, spoon some tomato sauce into a serving dish, top with a couple of the meatballs and some chopped parsley.