If fresh mint is not available, you can use a couple teaspoons of dried mint from herbal mint tea. You can also vary the vegetables depending on what you have on hand. Spring peas in their pods instead of shucked peas, for example. Or you could add some chopped fresh zucchini or corn. My mother often puts a couple extra tablespoons of chopped fresh mint directly into the soup. Feel free to substitute ground turkey for the ground beef, we do it often.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both (we usually use half stock half water as the meatballs will create their own stock)*
- 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
- 1/2 lb of string beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1/3 cup of raw white rice
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
- 1 raw egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- A dash of cayenne (optional)
- 1 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Method
1 Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add broth mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans.2 Prepare the meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
3 Add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.
Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.