Alhambra Reserva 1925 with Chorizo Meatballs and Padron Pepper Sauce
*Disclaimer: Alhambra kindly sent me a crate of their Alhambra Reserva 1925 beer to pair with a delicious tapa dish of my own creation – Chorizo Meatballs with Padron Peppers. All opinions expressed are my own.
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Spanish flavours
When Alhambra contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying their Alhambra Reserva 1925 I jumped at the chance and I knew a certain someone who was going to be incredibly grateful – my other half. Together we carefully tasted this delicious Spanish craft beer to come up with a tapas recipe that could be served alongside it, and here is the result.
Alhambra is regarded as the leading craft brewery in Spain and in recent years it has become more and more popular in the UK. Which, is no surprise when every sip reminds you of being on holiday!
Tasting Notes
When you first pour the beer, it has a light and foamy head with an incredibly smooth texture. It has a deep, amber colour that reminds you of the Spanish sun.
For a larger it has an impressive, rich malty flavour. It isn’t your standard lager this is of premium quality and for real connoisseurs! It’s also a hearty 6.4% so not to be enjoyed lightly! It is well balanced, and has a classic crisp pilsner taste from the Saaz hops.
The beer has the perfect, bitter-sweet balance. With this in mind, I wanted to come up with a recipe that had complimentary rich, depth of flavour but which wouldn’t overpower the beer. I decided to go with smoky, sweet chorizo meatballs in a rich tomato sauce flavoured with bitter padron peppers.
Best served chilled to 4-6%, this cool beer will take the heat out of the spicy meatballs!
The recipe
These Chorizo Meatballs with Padron Pepper Sauce are perfect for serving alongside a cool bottle of Alhambra Reserva 1925.
Chorizo Meatballs and Padron Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 500 g pork mince
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1.5 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 clove clove crushed
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 0.25 tsp cumin
- 0.5 tsp oregano dried
- Pinch ground black pepper
For the sauce
- 400 g tinned tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 100 g padron peppers diced
- 1 small red onion diced
- 1 small red chili sliced
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the pork mince with the spices for the meatballs as well as the wine. Leave the pork mix to rest for at least an hour in the fridge so that the flavours can meld together.
- Next, roll the pork mince into balls roughly the size of a golf ball.
- In a large, flat bottomed frying pan, heat a little oil. Fry the meatballs until golden and crisp on the outside.
- Remove the meatballs from the pan and place to one side.
- In the same pan, begin frying the onions, chilli pepper and padron peppers in the juices of the pork meatballs.
- Once the peppers have softened and the onions have become translucent, add the tomatoes and tomato puree to the pan.
- Scrape all of the caramelised pieces of pork fat from the bottom of the pan to flavour the sauce.
- Once the tomatoes have begun to bubble, add the spices and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the meatballs back into the pan and cook in the sauce for 10 minutes or until piping hot.
- Serve alongside an array of tapa dishes and a chilled Alhambra Reserva 1925.
Nutrition
Alhambra
Unlike a lot of modern breweries, Alhambra uses slow, natural fermentation over periods of up to 39 days when brewing their beer. All the Alhambra brand beers are made with no additives. What’s more, the water used is still drawn from the Sierra Nevada Mountains! Pretty impressive right? When that much love is taken to make the beer, it’s only right that you serve up a couple of tapa dishes that have been painstakingly prepared. Cooking the sauce for these meatballs low and slow not only makes the sauce taste fantastic, but beautifully matches the care and attention put in to Alhambra Reserva 1925.
More Spanish inspired recipes
*Supper in the Suburbs encourages you to drink responsibly. For advice on sensible enjoyment of alcohol please visit Drinkaware.