Spanish meatballs in tomato and sherry sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 m.-sized onion(s)
• 750 g minced meat, mixed or minced beef
• 1 m.-sized egg(s)
• 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp, crushed paprika powder, sweet
• 50 g ham, Serrano in one piece
• 2 ½ tbsp olive oil
• 2 small cans of tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 tbsp dry sherry
• 125 g quark
• 75 g sheep’s cheese with herbs
• 8 slices of toast
• n. B. Rocket

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Peel the onions. Place the minced meat in a bowl and grate one onion into it. Add the egg and breadcrumbs and knead. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Finely dice the ham. Knead into the minced meat. Form 12 meatballs. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan and brown the meatballs vigorously on all sides, then remove. Peel the garlic. Finely dice 1 clove and the remaining onion. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the fat in the pan and sauté the diced garlic and onion. Add the tomato paste and fry. Deglaze with the chopped tomatoes and sherry. Add the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Place the meatballs and sauce in a non-stick baking dish. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes. Mix in the quark. Crumble the feta cheese and stir in. Season with salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Toast the slices of bread and, while still hot, rub them vigorously with the remaining garlic clove. If desired, fry the toast slices in 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the remaining garlic clove until golden brown. Remove the casserole from the oven and arrange the slices of bread on plates. Sprinkle with arugula, if desired. We didn’t make a dip for this, but instead placed the feta cheese on top of the casserole.