Skip to main content

Albondigas Soup


We are still having soup weather around here as we just got a couple more inches of snow last night.  Winter is not over.  We feel fortunate our weather is not as bad as some parts of the country but we are still getting antsy for spring to arrive.  But not quite yet, I'm afraid. 

I made this soup a couple of weeks ago and put some in the freezer to save for a day like today when we just feel like staying home all hunkered down waiting for the snow to melt.  It's no fun trying to drive around here with all our hills.  This soup warms you up real fast because it's a Mexican soup with just the right amount of spices and the best broth I think I've ever made.  After I made it, I gave some to a couple of friends and I got the seal of approval.  It's a recipe from a local chef named Charlie Midencey who works at Ovelake Golf and Country Club and this is his grandmother's recipe.  He was featured in the Sunday paper and I thought the recipe looked pretty good.  I always like making peoples' family recipes; they are usually the best recipes.  I'd never heard of albondigas soup but my friend had and she raved about it so that's why I decided to make it and I'm glad I did.  The article said when he was growing up in L.A., everyone had heard of pozole, but albondigas soup was rare.  The soup has a rich, spicy broth and is very hardy with thick-cut zucchini, carrots, potatoes and meatballs mixed with rice and chipotle.  I could tell it was a family recipe because it was written a little vague.  I plan to add a few of my own notes in this recipe to clarify parts of it.  Also, I thought there were too many meatballs and not enough broth.  The meatballs absorbed all the broth so next time I plan to make half as many meatballs.  The broth is REALLY good.  It was a shame that so much of it got absorbed and you couldn't savor it as much as I would have liked.  I know they wanted it to be a hardy soup with all those meatballs (46 total meatballs) but I'm pretty sure it would still be spectacular with half that many leaving more room to enjoy the broth.  

Meatballs (makes 46 meatballs) 
I would recommend to make half the recipe of meatballs or make the full recipe and then use only half the meatballs and freeze the rest

1 bunch cilantro 
2 white onions
1 cup white rice
1 Tbsp. dice chipotle pepper (or you can use 1 Tbsp. of ground chipotle chile pepper spice)
2 Tbsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. chicken bouillon
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
3 pounds ground beef

Soup
2 zucchini, cut into medium, bite-size pieces
2 large carrots, cut into medium bite-size pieces
3 russet potatoes, cut into medium, bite-size pieces
1 can corn


Broth

2 Roma tomatoes, quartered
2 serrano peppers, halved and deseeded
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart water
6 cloves garlic, whole
1 Tbsp. chicken bouillon
1 cup tomato sauce


Make the Meatballs. 

1.  Roughly, chop the cilantro leaves and dice the onions, placing into a large bowl.  


2.  Add the uncooked rice, chipotle, cumin, 2 Tbsp. chicken bouillon, 1 Tbsp. each of salt & pepper, and ground beef.  


3.  Mix until well combined and roll into golf-ball-size meatballs.  Set aside.


Make the Broth

4.  In a large pot over medium-high heat, pour in chicken broth and 1 quart of water.  Add in tomatoes, serranos, garlic, 1 Tbsp. chicken bouillon and tomato sauce.  



5.  Mix and bring to a boil, boiling for 5 minutes or until tomatoes and serranos are soft. 

6.  Remove from heat and blend soup using a stick blender or conventional blender.  


7.  Bring mixture back to a boil and add in meatballs.  


8.  After  meatballs are added, lower heat to a simmer and add carrots.  


9.  Once carrots are fork-tender, add potatoes.  Once the potatoes are fork-tender, add zucchini and corn.

10.  Cover with a lid and turn off heat.  Let rest for 15 minutes or until zucchini reaches desired tenderness and serve. 

Goes well with Winter Jeweled Fruit Salad and tortilla chips.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free.  But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one.  My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations  and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends.  We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop.  She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots.  We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.)   The views are always quite lovely, too.  Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception.  I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, t...

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of  meatloaf .  This must be meatloaf season.  It was surprisingly similar to the  Pioneer Woman's version  who was also recently on.   I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book,  Food Matters .  His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese!  I must be doing something wrong.  The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life.    If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health.  He tells his story in Food Matters and provides ...

Two-Bean Soup with Kale

This hearty vegetarian soup warms up chilly nights.  Use any type of canned beans you happen to have on hand and add chicken or Italian sausage for a heftier dish, if you prefer. Makes 4-6 servings 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped carrots 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/2 tsp. salt, divided 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups vegetable broth, divided 7 cups stemmed, chopped kale (about 1 bunch) 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained and divided 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1.  Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion, carrot, and celery, and saute 6 minutes or until tender.  Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and garlic; cook 1 minute.   2.  Stir in 3 cups vegetable broth and kale.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simme...