Shelly's Recipe

MEATBALL AND DUMPLING SOUP

Category: Soups

1 recipe Dumplings (recipe follows)

Meatballs
1/2 lb ground meat (pork, veal, beef, turkey, or meatloaf mix)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp -ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground allspice
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp milk
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Broth
2 quarts well-flavored beef consomme
1 cup diced carrots, cooked
1 cup frozen sugar snap peas

To make meatballs: Put ground meat and onion in a food processor with the steel blade in place; process until very fine. (Or, put through a food grinder three times until very fine.) Add the salt, pepper, allspice, flour, milk and egg white; process until smooth. Turn out into a bowl and let stand 30 minutes (mixture will thicken). Shape the meat into 40 (3/4-inch or smaller) balls. At this point you will need to cook the meatballs using either the Danish method (see following), which produces a very lightweight meatball with little color. Or the American method can be used, where the meatballs are baked in the oven and become brown. Either way, the meatballs can be made a day ahead of time, then warmed in the soup.

Danish method of cooking meatballs: Bring 2 inches of water in a skillet to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt for each quart of water. Drop meatballs into boiling water and boil 4 to 5 minutes until cooked through. Lift out of the water with a perforated spoon. Place in a sieve, rinse with cold water and let meatballs drip until dry. Warm in soup.

American method of cooking meatballs: Preheat oven at 350. Place meatballs in a baking pan and place in oven until nicely browned and cooked through, stirring occasionally so that all sides are browned (time will depend on size of meatballs). Do not overcook the meatballs.

Make dumplings (see recipe).

To serve: Heat the consomme to boiling. Add the carrots, snap peas, meatballs and dumplings. Ladle into bowls. Serves 8.

NOTES: This soup looks long and involved, but only because it is composed of three elements, two of which can be made earlier and reheated in a rich vegetable-garnished beef broth (which is the third element).

Dumplings
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 tsp salt, plus more to salt water
1 cup flour
3 eggs

In a saucepan, bring first 3 ingredients to a boil. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. When dough forms a smooth, shiny ball that comes away from sides of pan, remove from heat. Cool 10 minutes. Mix in eggs, one at a time, beating well. Bring 2 inch of water to a simmer in a wide, shallow skillet and add 1 tsp salt per quart of water. Shape dough into small balls. Use 2 tsp or a small scoop.

As you finish shaping a dumpling, drop into simmering water and repeat as others are being completed. While doing this process, bring water to a boil; as soon as it boils, add a small amount of cold water. Return to a boil and repeat three times, adding water and bring it to a boil again. The dumplings are done at one time. Lift out of water; drain in a sieve. NOTE: These can be made a day ahead of time and warmed in the soup.