Chipotle Bacon Meatballs

-LW

Adapted from Rick Bayless, Mexican Everyday.

These might be my favorite meatballs yet! It sound weird at first, but the fresh mint is an absolute revelation with the smoky chipotle and bacon flavors. (Think about peas with mint and bacon, only without the peas, because peas are gross.)

These can be served with rice or tortillas, but I really prefer to serve them with crusty bread for soaking up the extra sauce.

Ingredient
3 slices raw bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 cloves garlic, divided

2 eggs

1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

1 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1 1/4 lb. ground pork

1/2 coarsely chopped mint leaves, plus extra for garnish

2 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes (15 oz. each), in their juice

1 or 2 canned chipotle chiles, seeded

1 or 2 tablespoons canning sauce from chipotles

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions
Preheat oven to 450.

In food processor, combine bacon and 1 garlic clove. Process until finely chopped. Add eggs, bread crumbs, and salt. Pulse several times to combine thoroughly. Add pork and mint. Pulse a few more times until everything is well-combined, but not processed into a paste.

Form into 16 plum-sized meatballs and place in 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

While meatballs are baking, combine tomatoes with their juice, chipotles, canning sauce, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 2 garlic cloves in food processor. Process to a smooth puree.

When meatballs are finished, spoon off any rendered fat from the baking dish. (If there's just a little, I actually leave it in to make the sauce richer, but if there's a lot of extra fat, you should probably remove most of it.) Pour the tomato mixture over the meatballs and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

[If the sauce is too thick after this step, you can thin it with broth or water, as Bayless recommends, but I actually think the texture is perfect without thinning it down.]

Serve with extra mint leaves on top as garnish.