Albondigas (Mexican Meatball Soup)

This soup is delish!!! Even Mr. "Picky Pants" likes it...and that's saying something! You control the "spicy factor" by how much chile powder you add to the meatballs.

For The Meatballs

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1/2 sweet onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh oregano, roughly chopped
2 1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

For The Broth

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 sweet onion,chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp minced chipotle chiles in adobo
6 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup fresh (or frozen) corn kernels
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
cooked white or brown rice, for serving

In a large mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs and stock. Stir to form a paste and set aside.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant and softened. Remove from heat and scrape into bowl with breadcrumb paste, let mixture cool about 5 minutes. Once cooled, add pork, turkey, eggs, oregano, chile powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Using your hands, thoroughly (but gently) mix together until well combined.

Cover bowl and let meat mixture rest in fridge at least 30 minutes.

While meat mixture is "chilling", heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or stock pot. Add chopped onion and saute until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and chipotle peppers. Stir and continue cooking 2 more minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, celery, carrots and corn. Reduce heat medium low and simmer until veg is softened, about 30-40 minutes.

While broth is simmering, preheat oven to 350. Take meatball mixture out of fridge and shape into 1" meatballs. Place meatballs onto lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake meatballs until cooked through and golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove meatballs from oven and add to broth. Add lime juice and cilantro, stir and cook 5 minutes. Taste and correct seasoning with kosher salt & freshly ground pepper.

To Serve - Place about 1/2 cup rice in soup bowl. Ladle soup over rice and serve.