Recipe: Albóndigas de la Familia Ronstadt (Ronstadt Family Meatballs)

In her new memoir, "Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands" (published by Heyday), singer Linda Ronstadt includes traditional Sonoran dishes from her childhood. 

She shares with "Sunday Morning" viewers her family recipe for meatballs.

Albóndigas de la Familia Ronstadt (Ronstadt Family Meatballs)
by Linda Ronstadt

Yield: 6 to 8 servings (about 65 meatballs)

Ingredients:  

3 pounds ground beef, preferably flank and round steak
6 medium tomatoes, preferably plum
½ cup fresh mint, finely chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 medium scallion, minced
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons dried Mexican oregano
Fine sea salt and black pepper
¾ cup olive oil or melted lard
Lime wedges, for serving

Instructions:

1. Heat your broiler. Put the ground beef in a large bowl.
2. Broil the fresh tomatoes just until the skins can be removed easily (the skins will split and char in spots), 7 to 10 minutes. Peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds and purée the flesh in a blender. There should be about 1½ cups.
3. Add the mint, cilantro, scallion, garlic, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper to the meat; mix well. Add the tomato purée and knead the mixture until incorporated.
4. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the oil or melted lard to the meat mixture, incorporating it by kneading. The mass should be neither dry nor too liquid. Test the mixture by forming a piece into a ball the size of a walnut. It should hold together.
5. Proceed to form walnut-size balls, and then drop a few at a time into the boiling water. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until all the meatballs are cooked through. Serve the meatballs in the liquid in which they were cooked, with lime wedges on the side.

       
For more info:

• "Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands" by Linda Ronstadt and Lawrence Downes; photographs by Bill Steen (Heyday), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• lindaronstadt.com

Check out the "Sunday Morning" 2022 Food Issue Recipe Index for more menu suggestions, from all of the chefs, cookbook authors, flood writers and restaurateurs featured on our program.