Albondigas Soup

I found a recipe for albondigas soup and tried it today. It is a Mexican soup made with meatballs and various vegetables. It was excellent and good enough that I thought I'd share the recipe.

Ingredients

* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 large garlic clove, minced
* 3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock
* 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
* 1/2 lb of string beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
* 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

* 1/3 cup of raw white rice
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves
* 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
* 1 raw egg
* 1 & 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* A dash of cayenne (optional)

* 1 & 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
* 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano
* Salt and pepper
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add broth mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans.

2 Prepare the meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

3 Add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.

Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!