Meatballs, Ada Parellada's recipe

It doesn't matter if you call them meatballs or 'pilotilles'. With this recipe from the Semproniana cook Ada Parellada, you have no excuse not to make these succulent little balls of happiness so traditional to Catalan cuisine.

• Ingredients for the meatballs250 g of beef
• 250 g of pork meat
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• 50 g of bread crumb
• 100 ml of milk
• 1 teaspoon of fresh chives or fresh chopped parsley
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil
• Battering flour
• Ingredients for the sofritoAn onion
• 1 leek
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 clove of garlic
• 4 canned tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 100 ml of white wine
• 200 ml of red wine
• 500 ml of water
• Salt and pepper
• Ingredients for the picadaA handful of hazelnuts
• A handful of almonds
• 50 g of chocolate
• A toast or some breadsticks
• 1 clove of garlic
• The step-by-step recipeWe make the meatballs. We crumble the breadcrumb and soak it in milk. In the bowl, we put the minced meats, the soaked bread, the egg, the minced garlic, the chopped chives, salt and pepper. We knead it until we achieve a homogeneous dough. We make small balls and coat them with flour. We shake off the excess flour and fry them in plenty of oil. When they are well browned, we remove them. We strain the oil and put half of it back into the casserole.
• Chop all the vegetables: the peppers, the onion, the leek and the garlic. Put the peppers, the onion, the garlic, the bay leaves, salt and pepper into the saucepan with the oil. Cook it slowly for a good 15 minutes until it has softened well. Add the chopped leek and let it cook for 5 more minutes. When it starts to stick, pour in the white wine and wait for it to evaporate. It will be the time to add the chopped canned tomatoes and their juice. Let it cook for about 10 more minutes over low heat until everything becomes like a jam.
• We add the fried meatballs, cover them with the red wine and cook them slowly for about five minutes so that the wine evaporates slightly. We finish covering it with water, add a little salt and let them cook for 15 minutes slowly.
• Meanwhile, we prepare the picada. In the mortar, we place the hazelnuts, the almonds, the peeled garlic clove, and salt. We crush everything until it is well ground. We add the toast or the breadsticks and continue crushing. Finally, we add the chocolate and dilute it with broth from the meatballs' cooking. We pour the picada into the casserole and there will only be ten more minutes of cooking left, we adjust the salt and to the table!