Albondigas

Courtesy of:  me

Ingredients:
2-3 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 cup rice
2 tbsp cilantro
3 large tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 celery stalks, roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 potatoes, cut into 8ths
2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
pepper to taste
crackers
banana peppers

Begin by combining the ground beef, eggs, rice, cilantro, salt, cumin, and pepper in a large bowl.  Fill a large pot with water and let it boil.  Roll the meat mixture into meat balls, you can make them as small or large as you like.  Drop the meatballs into the boiling water.  While those are boiling, pour about 2 cups of water into another extra large pot.  Drop in the chopped celery and carrots.  While those are boiling, blend the tomatoes, onion, and garlic.  Once fully blended, pour the mixture into the pot with the carrots and celery.  Now move the meatballs from their original pot to the pot with the veggies in it. Pour about half of the beef broth from the pot the meatballs were in into the other large pot. Allow everything to boil in this pot for at least 30 mins.  Add the potatoes and the juice from the banana pepper jar.  Boil for 20 mins then add salt to the soup.  Be generous with the salt, it will require quite a bit.  Lower the heat and allow the soup to cook for another 20-30 mins.  Serve with crackers and banana peppers.

*******I boil my meatballs separately to avoid ending up with greasy soup.  It's not absolutely necessary to boil them separately, but I recommend it.


Enjoy!