Meatballs in Mexican chipotle sauce

I first saw this recipe recommended by the Callan brothers in the Good Food section of the SMH. They were recommending Chillies in adobo sauce as a must buy ingredient – he said to make this dish by Neil Perry and "thank him later". I actually did make it , posted this picture, and in fact thanked him on his instagram page! It is smoky and moreish. The meatballs are fantastic.  A hit with my husband especially.

I have actually almost doubled the minced beef and pork in my recipe as I find there is always so much sauce and not enough meatballs - you could make this the same way as the Spanish lamb meatballs in the slow cooker.

Pictured: Meatballs in Mexican chipotle sauce

For the meatballs -

500g minced beef

500g minced pork

1 tsp ground cumin

2 garlic clove, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

100g (1 ½ cups) fresh breadcrumbs

3 large eggs

2 tbsp milk

extra virgin olive oil

Manchego or pecorino cheese, to serve

For the chipotle sauce -

4 ripe tomatoes or a 400g tin of tomatoes

6 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce*

2 garlic cloves

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp  sea salt

250ml (1 cup) chicken stock

For the chipotle (pronounced chuh-powt-lei) sauce - place the tomatoes, chillies and their sauce, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt in a blender. Add the stock and process until quite smooth.

For the meatballs - place the beef, pork, cumin, garlic, 1 tsp salt and a grind of pepper in a bowl. Mix well, then stir in the breadcrumbs, eggs and milk. Form the mince mixture into small walnut-sized balls.

Heat a large frying pan with a splash of olive oil over medium heat. Add the meatballs and brown gently for 2 minutes. Add the sauce and cook gently for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sauce starts to thicken. Reduce the heat to medium–low and cook, uncovered, until the sauce reduces to about half its original volume and coats the meatballs.

To serve - spoon the meatballs onto a serving plate and grate a little Manchego or pecorino over the top.

Serve with tortillas, taco, polenta, rice or potatoes –whatever you feel like!I love it with some grilled corn on the side as well.

Makes about 40 meatballs

* Chipotle chillies are red jalapenos that have been smoked and dried. Adobo sauce is typically flavoured with spices such as paprika, bay leaves and oregano. I can generally find a jar or tin of Chillies in adobo in supermarkets these days, or delis, not just specialist Mexican stores.