Mandonguilles amb Sípia

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy casserole or cazuela with lid, about 30cm
• •Mortar and pestle
• •Fine grater
• •Digital kitchen scale
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the bread

   Put the 70g of bread in a bowl, pour over the milk, and leave it for 10 minutes. Squeeze it firmly so it is moist but no longer dripping. This keeps the meatballs tender without making the mixture loose.

2. 2

   Mix the meatballs

   Combine the pork, beef, soaked bread, egg, 1 finely grated garlic clove, 8g parsley, cinnamon, 9g salt, and all the pepper. Mix with your fingers only until everything holds together. Work it too much and the meatballs turn tight. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.

   Fry a teaspoon of the mixture as a test before shaping the lot. Taste it and correct the salt now, while correction is still easy.
3. 3

   Shape and flour

   Divide the mixture into 24 portions of about 34g each. Pésalo, no lo adivines, weigh it rather than guessing, because equal meatballs finish cooking together. Roll them lightly between damp palms, coat them thinly with flour, and shake off every loose patch.

4. 4

   Prepare the picada

   Heat 15ml olive oil in a wide casserole over medium heat. Fry the almonds and the 20g bread cubes for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them until evenly golden. Lift them out and leave them to cool. Pound them in a mortar with 1 garlic clove, the remaining 12g parsley, and 1g salt until you have a coarse paste. Set it aside.

5. 5

   Brown the meatballs

   Add 55ml olive oil to the casserole and raise the heat to medium-high. Brown the meatballs in three batches, turning them carefully for 5 to 6 minutes per batch. They need a good brown crust but should remain raw inside. Transfer them to a plate and keep every drop of their juices.

   Crowding the casserole traps moisture and makes the flour coating peel away. Give each meatball room to touch the pan.
6. 6

   Sear the cuttlefish

   Pat the cuttlefish very dry. Add another 20ml oil and sear it in two batches over high heat, about 4 minutes per batch. It will first release liquid. Let that liquid cook away, then give the pieces a little colour. Season with 2g salt and transfer them to the meatball plate.

7. 7

   Build the sofregit

   Lower the heat and add the remaining 50ml oil, the onions, and 3g salt. Cook gently for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is dark gold, soft, and almost jammy. Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the grated tomato and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until it has darkened, lost its raw sharpness, and the oil shows again around the edges. This patient sofregit, the slow onion and tomato base, is what decides the dish. Rush it and the sauce stays thin in flavour.

8. 8

   Braise the cuttlefish

   Pour in the wine and scrape the browned bits from the bottom. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the raw smell is gone and roughly half the wine remains. Return the cuttlefish and its juices, add the bay leaf and 500ml hot stock, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 20 minutes.

9. 9

   Add meatballs and peas

   Return the meatballs and their juices to the casserole. Add the peas and settle everything into the sauce without stirring roughly. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Turn the meatballs once by moving them with a spoon rather than dragging them through the pot.

10. 10

    Bind with picada

    Loosen the picada with 60ml of the reserved hot stock, then stir it into the casserole. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, gently shaking the pot now and then, until the sauce turns glossy and coats the back of a spoon. Add a little more stock only if it becomes too tight. The meatballs should reach 71°C at the centre, and a knife should enter the cuttlefish without resistance.

11. 11

    Rest and serve

    Remove the bay leaf, taste, and use the final 1g salt only if the sauce needs it. Take the casserole off the heat and rest it for 10 minutes. The picada continues to settle and bind the sauce as it stands. Bring the cazuela to the table with bread for the sauce. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

Chef Tips

• •Buy thick, pearly cuttlefish with a clean sea smell, or use frozen cleaned cuttlefish and thaw it overnight in the refrigerator. Frozen is no disgrace here. Dry it thoroughly, because wet cuttlefish boils in its own liquid before it can take any colour.
• •If cuttlefish is unavailable, large squid is the honest substitute. Use the same weight, but begin checking it after 30 minutes of total braising. Squid is sweeter and softer, so the sauce loses a little of the mineral depth and firm bite cuttlefish brings.
• •Use ripe fresh tomatoes when the market has them. In colder months, choose 350g drained canned whole tomatoes and crush them yourself. A tomato destined for a long sofregit is better preserved ripe than bought fresh and pale.
• •The meatballs need only a thin veil of flour. Heavy flour falls into the oil, scorches, and muddies the sauce. The picada will do the proper thickening later.
• •Serve this with pa de pagès or another firm country loaf. For wine, a young Empordà garnatxa served slightly cool has enough fruit for the meat and enough freshness for the cuttlefish.

Advance Preparation

• •Shape the meatballs up to 24 hours ahead, arrange them in one layer, cover, and refrigerate. Flour them only immediately before frying.
• •The sofregit can be cooked up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it back to a gentle bubble before adding the wine.
• •The finished dish is even better after an overnight rest. Cool it promptly, refrigerate for up to 3 days, and reheat gently with a splash of water so the meatballs remain tender and the picada does not catch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)