Maghrebi ground meat and potato meatballs
These tender meatballs get their softness from a grated potato worked right into the meat, in place of the usual soaked bread. Bright with lemon and parsley, they're coated in egg and breadcrumbs, pan-fried until golden, and served simply with a crisp tomato and lettuce salad.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, grated onion, soaked bread, and lemon juice.
Squeeze the grated potato to remove excess moisture, then add it to the bowl with the 2 beaten eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well until evenly combined.
With damp hands, shape the mixture into walnut-sized meatballs.
Dip each meatball in the reserved beaten egg, then roll in breadcrumbs to coat.
Heat about ½ inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the meatballs in batches of 4 or so, turning until golden on all sides and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels.
Serve warm, with a tomato and lettuce salad alongside.
Notes
Squeeze the grated potato well before mixing — extra moisture makes the meatballs soggy and prone to falling apart in the pan.
Wet hands keep the mixture from sticking and help you shape neater, more even meatballs.
Fry in small batches so the oil temperature doesn't drop; that keeps the coating crisp instead of greasy.
Variations
Use ground pork, turkey, or a beef-pork mix for a lighter result.
Add a pinch of ground cumin or smoked paprika to the mixture for extra warmth.
Bake instead of frying: arrange the coated meatballs on a lined sheet pan, drizzle with oil, and bake at 400°F until golden, about 20 minutes.
Source
This dish traces back to the Maghreb, the North African region spanning Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Meatballs bound with a starchy filler and lifted with lemon are a long-standing feature of Maghrebi home cooking, and the technique traveled into Spain through the culinary exchange of Al-Andalus — which is also where the dish's name comes from: albóndiga derives from the Arabic al-bunduqa, "little ball."