Hello!
Summer just begun and as unusual as it might sound, we were craving for soup and a meatball sandwich (from Nonna’s obviously, our favorite takeout spot in Chicago). So I decided to combine both and put my well rested slow cooker to work, today I have for you my take on one of my favorite Mexican soups… “Albondigas”! which is basically a meatball soup but let’s just stick to Spanish for this one.
My mom used to make this soup probably once a week and its perfect if you like strong Mexican flavors, give it a try! Enjoy!
Ingredients (8 servings)
2 pounds of lean ground meat.
6 sticks of celery, chopped.
3 big and juice tomatoes, chopped.
4 big long carrots, chopped.
3 pieces or garlic, chopped.
1 full egg.
½ red onion, chopped.
1 cup of oats, blended. Careful! You don’t want oats powder here, just put them in a blender and pulse two or three times.
½ tsp. of nutmeg.
2 tbs. ground black pepper.
1 ½ tbs. pink salt.
1 tsp. paprika or (if for some reason you have this) powder “Chile Colorado” (From Sonora, Mexico).
2 tsp. oregano.
2 bay leaves.
4 cups of vegetable broth (natural, NOT powder or canned).
1 cup of water.
Olive oil.
Preparation (1 to 5 hours, depending if you decide to use the slow cooker or a regular pot)
First, put the following ingredients in a slow cooker, low temperature and timed for 5 hours: celery, tomatoes, carrots, garlic, half the pepper, half the salt, paprika (or Chile Colorado), half the oregano, bay leaves, water and vegetable broth.
Now, cook the red onions in a medium pan with hot olive oil for a couple of minutes until they almost caramelize, once done add them to the slow cooker. Careful with the oil, you certainly don't need it in the soup!
Time to make the meatballs. Put the ground meat, egg, oats, rest of pepper, rest of salt, nutmeg, rest of oregano in a large bowl and mix them until well combined. Make as many balls as you can using one spoonful of the mix.
Put all the meatballs in a large pan with hot olive oil to just to seal the outside, you don’t have to cook them thorough. Only 2 minutes moving them constantly will do the job. After this, you can add them to the slow cooker. And again, careful with the oil, you certainly don't need it in the soup!
Now it’s time to let the slow cooker do the job for 5 hours in high temperature. If you’re using a regular pot and fire, just cook for 1 hour in a medium heat with the lead on.
Hope you like this! Don’t forget to share if you do.