Chipotle Meatballs - El Naranjo Restaurant, Oaxaca, Mexico
2
People talking
These meatballs are flavored with chipotle chiles and capers. At the restaurant they are served over rice. I prefer serving the meatballs alone as cocktail appetizers. They might also be good used for a meatball sandwich. Published in Bon Appetit, May 2003.
- Ready In:
- 35mins
- Serves:
- Units:
2
People talking
ingredients
- 3 lbs plum tomatoes or 3 lbs roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1 medium white onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chiles
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1⁄2 cup fresh breadcrumb (made from crustless French bread)
- 1 large egg
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt
- 3⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons drained capers (optional)
directions
- Puree first 5 ingredients in blender in batches until almost smooth. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add tomato mixture. Cover and boil 10 minutes to blend flavors and thicken slightly, stirring occasionally. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.).
- Combine ground beef and next 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add 1/2 cup cooled tomato sauce and stir until well mixed. Using hands, form 1 rounded tablespoonful meat mixture into ball. Optional: Insert 1/4 t. capers into center of meat; reshape meatball. Repeat with remaining meat mixture and capers.
- Bring sauce to simmer over medium heat. Add meatballs to sauce. Cover and simmer until meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
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RECIPE MADE WITH LOVE BY
@swissms
Contributor
@swissms
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"These meatballs are flavored with chipotle chiles and capers. At the restaurant they are served over rice. I prefer serving the meatballs alone as cocktail appetizers. They might also be good used for a meatball sandwich. Published in Bon Appetit, May 2003."
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These were very good, a nice change from Italian meatballs. I served them over brown rice. I used canned crushed tomatoes which worked perfectly. Thanks Swissms.Reply
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I made a mistake with this recipe, but am not downgrading for it. And hopefully my story will prevent someone else from making the same mistake. :) I looked all over the 10 types of tomatoes at the grocery store but none were signed, "Plum Tomatoes". I really wanted to use the Romas, as that's my preferred tomato for just about everything, but 3 lbs seemed like an awful lot of them & I was shopping with a toddler who taste tests everything she can reach in the produce section. So I chose the bigger tomatoes that people generally use on hamburgers & removed as much of the seeds as I could. After dinner I sat down at the computer to research tomatoes & found that the Roma would have been the perfect choice for this recipe. I used my food processor and the slicing tomatoes (as I now know they're called) created a very watery, unflavorful sauce that had a strange texture. Very fine dices but never pureed, like I'd expected them to. Chipotle chiles are a favorite flavor of ours & we loved it in the meatballs & the sauce. I'd like to try this recipe again in the future with the Roma tomatoes as I'm sure there will be a huge difference in flavor as well as the texture. Thanks for posting, swissms! :) Made for New Kids on the Block tag game.Reply
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These meatballs are flavored with chipotle chiles and capers. At the restaurant they are served over rice. I prefer serving the meatballs alone as cocktail appetizers. They might also be good used for a meatball sandwich. Published in Bon Appetit, May 2003.
