When it comes to soups, I love mine chunky. Sure, a velvety Potato Leek Soup, or a Spicy Carrot-Sweet Potato Soup have their place, and are welcome on my dinner table. But I do love a soup with pieces of meat and vegetable floating around in the bowl, like this Hatch Chile Meatball Soup.
My last post was a recipe for a Hatch chile infused chicken stock, which was made specifically for this soup. Fresh Hatch chiles were used to flavor the stock with a slightly spicy and herbal note, and the meatballs use Hatch chile powder for another layer of flavor.
This meatball recipe makes more than you will need for this soup, but they are really tasty on their own. I cooked up some of the batch in BBQ sauce, and baking or sautéing them in bacon fat is also a great way to cook them. I mean, really, anything sautéed in bacon fat is wonderful.
Hatch Chile Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 cup dried bread crumbs
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1-2 teaspoons mild Hatch chile powder
Instructions
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In a large bowl, using clean hands, mix together all the ingredients until combined well.
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Using your hands, roll the seasoned meat into golf ball sized meatballs.
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Cover and refrigerate the meatballs until ready to use.
Hatch Chile Meatball Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups Hatch chile chicken stock
- 4 cups water
- 12 Hatch chile meatballs
- 1/2 pound pee wee Dutch yellow potatoes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 pound baby zucchini stem end trimmed
- juice of one lime
Instructions
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In a large soup pot, bring the stock and water to a boil.
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Reduce the heat to a simmer, then add the meatballs.
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Cook the meatballs for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes
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Add the zucchini, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
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When ready to serve, stir in the fresh lime juice.
