GROWING UP, Diana Davila got a thorough education in Mexican cooking: at home, with her mother; working after school at her parents’ taqueria in Chicago; and on visits to family in Mexico. She’s still at it, with her own Chicago restaurant, Mi Tocaya Antojería. “It’s a passion,” she said simply.
Ms. Davila still finds inspiration close to home—and thanks to her mom. That’s how she discovered her third Slow Food Fast recipe, these albóndigas en caldillo, or meatballs in a spicy broth. “My mom called and was like, ‘You have to try this restaurant. They have real home-cooked Mexican dishes!’ So I went, and this soup was delicious.” In her riff, pork meatballs simmer in a chile-tomato broth with potatoes and collard greens. A halved boiled egg crowns each bowl.
The smoky broth flavors the pork, which, in turn, enriches the broth. “They are working together,” Ms. Davila explained. And that’s the secret to this quick and deeply flavorful soup: It adds up to more than the sum of its parts.
—Kitty Greenwald is a chef, food writer and the co-author of ‘Slow Fires’ (Clarkson Potter)
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