Sopa de Albondigas

Albondigas are traditionally beef meatballs, but since I had chicken stock in my freezer , I decided to make chicken meatballs… and then when the grocery store didn’t have any ground chicken, I ended up using ground turkey. Here’s the recipe as I made it; going forward I think I’d only include 1 chipotle chile (or maybe exclude them altogether).

For the Meatballs:

1 lb ground turkey

¾ cup cooked rice (1/4 cup uncooked)

1 egg

2 jalapenos, diced

1 teaspoon chopped mint

½ teaspoon Mexican oregano

½ teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper

For the Broth:

1 poblano, roasted

1 clove garlic, roasted

1 14.5 oz can roasted tomatoes

2 chipotles in adobo, roughly chopped

6 cups chicken stock

Garnish:

Cilantro

Avocado

Red onion

Combine all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl and work everything together with your hands. Divide into 16 golf ball sized meatballs.

Heat up your broiler and put the poblano under it for a few minutes on each side, until the skin is blackened. Roast the garlic clove the same way (leave the skin on; it’ll only take a few minutes).

Remove the skin and seeds from the poblano and roughly chop. Add to a blender along with the garlic (remove the skin and roughly chop), tomatoes and 2 chipotles. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture to a pot along with the 6 cups of chicken stock. Bring it up to a simmer and add in the meatballs. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with cilantro, avocado and red onion.