Albondigas - Mexican Meatball Soup

Austria and Sweden fry theirs; the Chinese like theirs steamed; while Poland covers them in gravy and Japan coats in Panko crumbs. In Vietnam, they float in brothy Pho; in Brazil, they are served over rice; in Iran, they are stuffed with a boiled egg, and in Greece -- mint leaves. In this week's recipe, The 99 Cent Chef does his meatballs the Latin way -- studded with rice and seasoned with cumin, and floating in a tomato broth loaded with vegetables.

 

I like meatballs. You can see for yourself by clicking on my past recipes: Ingmar Bergman Swedish Meatballs, a Meatball Sub, and my Lighter Than Air Meatballs & Spaghetti. Now you can add Albondigas Soup to the chalkboard menu.

The main spice is cumin, which is from the Middle East, but this dish actually originated in Spain. (Albondigas is Spanish for meatball.) When I don't have curry powder on hand, cumin gets me most of the way there. Cumin gives bland ground poultry a pungent and aromatic kick. And for stuffing meatballs, rice is a tasty change of pace.

My Albondigas is economical. Normally it's made with ground beef, but that is too expensive for this Chintzy Chef. I prefer to use deli case frozen ground turkey or chicken, which I normally get for about $1 per pound. And ground turkey is low in fat, so your soup will not be oily, like it would be at a regular Mexican restaurant.

Rice, potatoes, celery, onions and carrots can be bought cheaply anywhere. I also added Mexican squash, but zucchini or yellow squash is a tasty substitute. This dish is adaptable with whatever veggies you have on hand. I used cilantro because my neighborhood Latin market always has it on sale, but don't worry if you don't have it locally; this soup will be delish without it.  I like to change up my recipes by adding or dropping ingredients -- it will not be lacking, just different.

So give my Albondigas Soup a try. It is easy to do and tastes even better the next day.

Ingredients for Soup (about 4 servings)

• 8 cups of water - or combo of favorite broth and water.
• 8 ounce can of tomato sauce - okay to use any type of canned or fresh chopped tomatoes.
• 1 large potato - I used 2 small potatoes, cubed
• 1 large carrot - sliced
• 1 celery rib - sliced
• 1 whole onion - chopped
• 1 Mexican squash - okay to use zucchini or yellow squash, cubed.
• 1 tablespoon garlic - chopped fresh or from jar.
• 1 bunch cilantro - optional. Use half the bunch, and save some for plating.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for Rice Meatball

• 1 pound or ground turkey or chicken - okay to use more expensive ground meat.
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano - optional
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 cup of uncooked rice - I used brown but you can use white as well - For cooked rice use one cup, and reduce cooking time by going right to Final Cooking Directions.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions for Meatballs
Start heating 8 cups of water in a large soup pot. In a large bowl add ground turkey (or chicken), egg, rice, dried oregano and ground cumin. Mix well.

The messy part is forming small meatballs - about 1 to 1.5 inch diameter each (and fits into a tablespoon). I made about 14 meatballs. If water is boiling, turn to low and carefully add each meatball to pot as you form them.

When all the meatballs are in the water, add chopped onion, celery, garlic and 1/2 of the chopped cilantro. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn up heat and bring to a boil, cover pot and reduce heat to low. (If you used cooked rice in meatballs then go right to next paragraph). Cook 1/2 hour for white rice or 45 minutes for brown rice. Turn meatballs a couple of times during cooking to make sure rice cooks through.

Final Cooking Directions
Add can of tomato sauce, and chopped potatoes, carrots and more cilantro (set aside a few sprigs for presentation) to soup. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook 1/2 hour. Lastly, add zucchini or Mexican squash (or any quick cooking veggies you like), then cover and cook another 10 minutes, or until desired tenderness is reached. Serve hot with a few sprigs of fresh cilantro.