Onion Soup with Spicy Meatballs

The Soup Lady loves to get email. A lovely surprise came into the mailbag from Denmark and a reader named Birthe.

Dear Soup Lady,

I'm a foodie from Denmark and I have my own foodblog on: www.newyorkerbyheart.blogspot.com  You are welcome to stop by if you feel like it. It's in Danish, but has a LOT of pictures of the food I make - and the latest recipes are translated to English.

My best, Birthe

And so stop by I did and I picked up a little something for you all while I was there.  Birthe is a lovely person and has agreed to share one of her recipes here.

ONION SOUP WITH SPICY MEATBALLS

Ingredients for broth:

• 4 onions, cut in half and sliced very thin
• 4 cloves garlic
• 50 g butter
• ½ big potato (baking potato)
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 4 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1,2 litre chicken stock
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage, chives or flatleaved parsley

Ingredients for spicy meatballs:

• 200 g minced beef
• 4 tbsp. flour
• 100 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 1 shredded onion
• 2 gloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1½ tsp. chili powder or cayenne pepper
• salt, pepper

Directions:
Soup - Melt the butter in a big pot. Add the onions and the garlic at let them simmer at medium temperature for 4-5 minutes, until they're soft and clear. Stir often. Shred the potato and add it with paprika, soy sauce, chili powder/cayenne pepper and chicken stock. Put a lid on and let it simmer for about 18-20 minutes. Add salt, pepper and cayenne/chili to taste.

Meatballs - Stir the minced meat with all the ingredients. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Make 20 small meatballs and fry them on a pan in olive oil, until they're crisp on the outside.

Serving - Chop the herbs right before serving and add with the meatballs. Serve with some bread.

The Soup Lady loves this soup and has spiced it up just a bit more by making a mixture of the milk and egg and adding about 7 drops of hot sauce to the meatballs and putting just a pinchof red pepper flakes into the broth. I was also a bit reluctant to shred the potatoes for fear they'd dissolve in the broth. I wanted to make a small dice, but I put my faith in Birthe and she was right - the shreds held up nicely and were still visible in the serving dish. Next time I make this, I'll be using 2 potatoes because that's what I like.  I'd advise you all to  go visit New Yorker By Heart to see what else Brithe has on the menu.

Need help with measurement conversion?
Click here: Conversion Table for Cooks