Meatball Soup with Sour Cream and Tarragon
Although I am not a big fan of meatball soup, this version (with sour cream and tarragon) became my favorite a loooong time ago, when I used to go on weekly business trips to Targu-Mures and ate at a canteen recommended by colleagues. So, if you have not tried it in this form, I warmly recommend it.
Ingredients
5-6 pork ribs
1 large carrot
1 small parsley root (about 50g)
1 parsnip (about 50g)
1 slice celery root (about 50g)
1 medium onion
200g sour cream
1 level tablespoon flour
1/2 lemon
1 good tablespoon chopped tarragon
Meatball mixture
300g ground meat (pork or mixed pork+beef; passed through the grinder twice)
1 small onion (about 30g)
1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
4 parsley sprigs
20g rice
1 egg
salt, black pepper
Servings: 5
How to prepare meatball soup with sour cream and tarragon
- Put the ribs to boil in 2 liters of cold water. Cook on medium heat, covered, for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, grate the vegetables on the large holes of a grater (or dice them) and saute in 2 tablespoons of oil until softened.
- Add the vegetables to the soup and cook, still covered, for 15-20 minutes (until cooked).
- Meanwhile, prepare the meatballs: pass the meat through the grinder twice together with the onion (if the meat is already ground, grate the onion). Add the rice (uncooked), breadcrumbs, finely chopped parsley, and egg. Mix well until combined. Season the mixture with salt and black pepper.
- With wet hands, form balls the size of a walnut (I got 21 meatballs).
- Reduce the heat under the soup to medium-low and add the meatballs to the soup, distributing them across the surface of the pot. Cook for 10 minutes, skimming the soup during this time.
- Reduce the heat under the soup to low.
- Mix the sour cream with flour, then dilute with 5 ladles of hot soup, added one at a time. Then slowly pour the cream into the pot with the soup, stirring continuously to prevent curdling.
- Add the chopped tarragon and lemon juice to taste (I used 2 tablespoons of lemon juice) and let it simmer for 10 more minutes on very low heat (the soup should not boil!). Taste for salt.
The boiled ribs and vegetables
The meatballs
The meatballs cooked in the soup
Add the sour cream
