Sopa de Albondigas

CCLady's Note:

This recipe, which I found in an old Sunset cookbook, is the only one I've found that's as good as our favorite little family-owned Mexican restaurant. . .

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 4 cups water
• 2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans beef broth
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled & cubed
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 cup finely snipped cilantro or 1/4 cup parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup long grain rice, uncooked

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan cook onion and garlic in hot oil until onion is tender but not brown.
2. Stir in water, broth and tomato paste.
3. Bring to a boil; add potatoes and carrots.
4. Simmer 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile combine egg, cilantro or parsley, salt, oregano and pepper.
6. Add ground beef and rice and mix well.
7. Form into 1-inch meatballs.
8. Add, a few at a time, to the simmering soup.
9. When all meatballs are added, bring soup back to boiling.
10. Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes, or until meatballs and vegetables are done.

Reviews

[Flaca]

Easy to follow, looks intimidating but its not. I wanted something like my moms and this fit the bill. In our home we like things spicy so the only difference were that I added some spices - a teaspoon of ground ginger and half a jalapeno pepper. My meatballs didn't fall apart, again they weren't too big, I used a teaspoon to scoop and shape them. Thanks for sharing, this was a hit.

[Roxakin]

WOW... this soup is great! My mom used to make mexican meatballs, but to me her cooking was bland so I looked for a recipe that seemed similar, just with more ingredients for flavor. I hit the jackpot! The only complaint I had was that initially the meatballs had too strong of an oregano flavor, but by the time my BF got home from work several hours later and heated himself some, the flavors seem to have blended. Next time I'll cut the oregano somewhat. But overall it was fabulous. I made some fresh corn tortillas to go along with it... YUMMY!

[Home Made for Pearlvilla]

This was easy to make and was delicious. My DH bragged and had me make a gigantic pot of this for his work.