Bolivian Chicken Peanut Soup with Cheese Balls

Happy Monday! Hope you are having a great day! I have an assessed presentation this morning and another tomorrow but after that, all my assessed work for the year is finished! Happy days!

This week's new recipe is a Bolivian Soup with cheese balls. The cheese balls seem to be found across South American countries and traditionally use 'yucca starch' - if anyone knows where you can get this - good for you! I managed to find a recipe that used cornflour and they turned out really well - crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle - my housemate likes them with mango chutney but they are delicious dipped in this soup.

The soup is a wholesome chicken broth - very conventional until the last 5 minutes when you add a tablespoon of peanut butter which transforms it! If I made it again I would probably omit/reduce the potato but otherwise I really enjoyed it!


Chicken Peanut Soup (Sopa de Mani)
adapted from Whats4eats
serves 1

1/3 Onion, finely chopped
1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped
300ml Chicken stock
Meat from one chicken thigh/breast (whichever you prefer), cut into bite size pieces
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
1/2 potato chopped into 8 pieces - (or less)
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

1. Add a little oil to a pan and cook for 4-5 minutes
2. Add garlic and cook for a further minute
3. Add chicken and cook for a minute before adding stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes
4. Add carrot and potato and cook for 15-20 minutes until vegetables are tender
5. Stir a little of the stock into the peanut butter before adding it to the soup
6. Cook for 5 minutes more
7. Serve with cheese balls!

Cheese Balls
adapted from Leon 
makes 15 balls

1/4 cup and 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup and 2 tbsp water
1/4 cup and 2 tbsp milk
pinch salt
175g cornflour
75g plain flour
1 egg
135g cheese - I used 50g Parmesan and 85g cheddar - finely grated

1. Add oil, water and milk to a pan and bring to the boil with salt, stirring from time to time
2. Stir flours together
3. Add fluid to flour mixture and mix until you have a soft sticky mixture
4. Add egg, knead in with your hand until you have a VERY sticky mixture!
5. Add finely grated cheese
6. Shape into walnut sized balls and position over 2 baking sheets
7. Bake in 200C oven - after 20 minutes take tray from top shelf out, move lower tray up and cook for a further 4 minutes
8. Enjoy dipped in soup!

Hope you have a great day!

Love Rebecca

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