Russian Soup

Russian meatball soup is usually called in Russia "Soup with frikadelki". It's a flavorful, healthy and hearty soup. I use ground beef for the meatballs in this recipe, but you can use ground pork or even chicken instead.

• Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
8 cups water
2 potatoes (large, cut into small cubes)
1/4 cup rice
1 carrot (grated)
1/2 onion (medium, finely chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons olive oil
parsley (finely chopped)
dill (finely chopped)
salt
pepper

• Instructions

1 Bring water to a boil. Add rice and reduce heat to medium low.
2 Cut the potatoes into small cubes and add to the water.

3 In a separate bowl, mix ground beef and minced garlic, add a little bit of fresh parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Using your hands, form small meatballs.
4 Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat and sear the meatballs until browned (about 5 minutes). Add to the soup. (I prefer to sear meatballs in order to get a clearer broth).

5 In a separate skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and saute onions and carrots for about 5 minutes, or until onions become soft and translucent. Add to the soup.

6 Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes.

7 Turn off the heat. Garnish with chopped parsley and dill. Serve hot.