Aisle 13 is the soup/broth aisle where I grocery shop. I slid on down the aisle one day and happened upon a carton of beef broth with a picture on the front – a bowl of soup. It looked good. I like soup. So I turned the carton around to get the recipe. Bollocks! No recipe.
That was disappointing. Now I was going to have to MacGuyver the thing together and hope for the best. But as is so often the case with a chuck-together recipe, it turned out better than anything I could have made after meticulous planning. Funny how that happens.
Need This
58 ounces of beef or chicken broth
1 large red bell pepper – chopped
1 – 12 ounce package of frozen corn
2 – 15 ounce cans of black beans
1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 medium-size onion – chopped
Olive oil
1 large egg
Salt
Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
Ground black pepper
Dried oregano
Ground cumin
1 large bay leaf (if you have it)
Ground cayenne pepper (optional)
Do This
Heat your oven to 350 F.
Pour a glug of olive oil into a large frypan and put a medium-high heat under it.
Add the chopped onion and red bell pepper to the pan and fry, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent – about 5 to 7 minutes.
Put the chop meat in a large bowl. Crack the egg into it then add the breadcrumbs (about 1/2 cup), a good shake of salt and black pepper and a palmful of dried oregano. Get in there with your hands and mash it all up together until everything in there is well blended.
Use a melon baller to scoop out small blobs of the chop meat mixture and roll them into little meatballs – whatever size you want. Line the meatballs up on a baking sheet and stick it in the oven to brown – about 10 to 12 minutes.
Dump the fried veg into a large soup pot. Add the broth, black beans, frozen corn and the bay leaf to the pot and put a high heat under it. Pluck the little meatballs off of the pan with tongs shaking off as much of the rendered fat as you can (or want to).
Now bring the soup to a boil then reduce the heat. Add the cumin and cayenne pepper (if using) to taste and let simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
Serve hot in soup bowls or mugs.
Serves 4 (with leftovers). My cost approx. $ 11.85 total – under $ 2.96 per serving.