Venezuelan cuisine: beef meatballs (carne albondigas)

Ingredients

• 1 kg ground beef
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 2 eggs
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs, more or less
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• Worcestershire sauce to taste, optional
• 1 carrot, finely grated
• 1 or 2 beef bouillon, optional
• 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
• oil for frying

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Preparation

• Combine ground beef, chopped onion and red peppers, eggs and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
• Mix well with hand and form into 1.5″‘ diameter meatballs.
• Heat a large frying pan with a few tablespoons of oil. Fry the meatballs until golden brown on all sides. Do not crowd the pan, you may fry the meatballs in batches. Drain on paper towel if necessary.
• Prepare sauce by diluting the crushed tomatoes with some water. Add grated carrots, bay leaves and season with sugar, salt or beef cube.
• Add the sauce to the all browned beef balls and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
  Do not let the sauce dry up and burn, add some water if it gets too dry.