Sopa De Albondigas (Aka Meatball Soup)

i got this recipe out of a Sephardic Cookbook. i really recommend this dish- it is a little hard to get just right because you add lemon juice and egg to the soup mixture, but when you get it right, it is worth it. This soup is rich and hearty and can be a meal unto its own. it is really good during the winter time because the thickness of the soup gives you a sense of comfort.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 10 mins
• Serves: 3-4
• Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients

• 1  small onion
• 1  small garlic clove
• 1  lb ground beef or 1  lb ground lamb
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice (found with other spices- can find in reg supermarkets)
•  salt & freshly ground black pepper (reg pepper is fine too)
• 3  large eggs
• 1⁄2 cup  breadcrumbs, plain is fine
• 8  cups  meat stock, you can use beef flavored bullion cubes as well. use about 2 cups of water for each cube
• 1⁄3 cup long grain white rice, rinsed (that's an approx amount. Can add more or less depending how much you like rice- but remember it suck)
• 1  large lemon, maybe a little less, the lemon does have a strong taste in the end if too much is added
• 1⁄3 cup  of finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1⁄3 cup  finely snipped fresh chives

Directions

1. Place the onion and garlic in the food processor or blender and puree. Note to cooker- I found that when I tried to do this, it didn’t puree very well. Even when I left the onion and garlic in chunks in the meatballs, at the end, you don’t notice.
2. put the puree in a mixing bowl with the meat, cinnamon, allspice, salt, pepper, 1 beaten egg and bread crumbs. Mix together by hand and set aside.
3. In a large pot, bring the meat stock to a boil. Add the rice and reduce the heat to a gentle boil
4. Have a bowl of cold water to you while you work. Wet your hands and divide the meat mixture into 6 or 8 parts and shape each into a large meatball. Put them into the simmering liquid and partially cover the pot.
5. Cook 1 ½ - 1 ¾ hours. NOTE: Doesn’t need to be that long. I cooked it for an hour … a little over an hour and the rice and the meat were cooked. Also another thing- check the soup every once in a while because I found that the liquid evaporates easily and I had to keep adding water so the soup wouldn’t burn.
6. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, beat the lemon juice with the remaining eggs. Pour one ladle of the stock into the egg/lemon mixture.
7. Reduce the heat under the soup to the lowest simmer and slowly add the egg/lemon mixture.
8. Stirring constantly, allow the soup to thicken but make sure the liquid doesn’t come to a boil or the eggs will cook and they will form clumps in the soup.
9. When the soup is thickened, remove from heat.
10. And then you serve. enjoy.