This one is really super yummy! And an unusual cooking method – you make a puree of your aromatics, then bloom them in a hot pan with olive oil before building the rest of the soup. The amount of spice oil that hit my nose made me worried that the soup was going to be too hot; but it turned out to be a nice gentle amount of heat.
Another unusual thing about this soup is that it used tortilla crumbs (made by putting some corn tortillas through a food processor) to thicken the soup, as well as to bind the meatballs. I’m not sure I like it more than just throwing in some tortilla strips? But it’s nice to have options.
Meatballs
4 corn tortillas, torn up
1/2 c cilantro
1 egg
3 cloves garlic
3/4 t salt
1/2 t chili powder (I used chipotle)
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t salt
1 lb ground turkey or beef
Soup
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 of a yellow onion, cut into chunks
1 jalapeño
3 cloves garlic
2t chipotle chili powder
1t ground cumin
1t oregano
salt & pepper
7c beef broth
2c chopped carrots, cut into bite-sized chunks
2c chopped zucchini, cut into thick half-moons
lime wedges, chopped cilantro and avocado slices, to serve
Put the 4 tortillas through the food processor and dump into a bowl. Measure out 1/2 of crumbs to reserve for the broth. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients to the bowl and combine with your hands.
Into the food processor put everything through the salt & pepper. Puree until smooth.
Put 1T of olive oil into a pan and heat over medium-high. Add the veggie puree. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will start to darken and then stick to the bottom of the pan. Flip it so that it doesn’t burn.
Add the reserved 1/2 c of tortilla crumbs, beef broth, zucchini and carrots and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Form the meat mixture into 15 golf ball sized meatballs and plop them gently into the simmering broth. Cook for 15 minutes until the meat is cooked and the vegetables are tender.