Albondigas en Salsa Verde [meatballs in a tomatillo-serrano salsa]

Imagine a mixture of an Italian rice ball and a traditional pork meatball. Now imagine that floating in a tangy tomatillo-serrano sauce with hints of cumin and cilantro. Yep—it’s bomb!

Start to finish: hour and a half

Serves 8

Ingredients:

-1.5 kg of tomatillos, de-leafed and washed

-1/4 kg of serranos

-1/4 kg rice

-4 cloves of garlic

-1 onion, diced

-1.5kg ground pork

-3/4 TBS cumin

-4 eggs

-handful of cilantro, chopped

-salt

-1 cube of chicken bouillon

-2 Tbs oil

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to instructions, but stop 5 minutes before the instructions say to leave it a little al dente. Strain.

2. In a pot, cover the tomatillos, serranos, onions, and garlic in water and boil for 20 minutes or until the tomatillos start to peel.

3. Blend the cooked tomatillos, serranos, onion, garlic, and cilantro in a blender. Add a little water (about a cup) to make it easier to blend.

4. In a bowl, mix the cumin, ground pork, diced onion, cooked rice, and 1Tbs of salt.

5. Add eggs to the mixture and continue mixing.

6. Add ¼ inch of oil to the bottom of a deep pot. Add salsa, 2 cups of water, and the cube of chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil. Note: if the salsa seems too thick, feel free to add more water.

7. When the salsa is boiling, start forming the meatball mixture into 2” balls and drop them into the boiling salsa.

8. When you’ve finished making the meatballs, continue to boil for 30 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through. Taste for salt.

Serve and enjoy with tortillas and beans :)