A Recipe from A Campbell Cookbook Cooking with Soup (1970)
About the Recipe
It’s Memorial Day weekend, which means the kiddo and I are hanging out with Aunt Becky – and it’s time for another Weekend at Becky’s recipe! This one was a perfect, easy addition to dinner that everyone enjoyed.
Porcupine meatballs are actually a depression era recipe combining ground meat, rice, and canned soup – all inexpensive staples. They’re called “porcupine” not because we’re eating cute little spiked animals, but because traditionally when cooked the meat shrinks. That leaves the little rice grains spiking out of the meatballs, giving them the appearance of small porcupines.
For these we did an easy substitute of ground turkey for the beef (neither of us are red meat eaters, generally). It was absolutely successful. I’ll give my usual recommendation here to use the ground meat or “meat” of your choice. I have no doubt that any would work. But honestly – that’s it! This recipe is very easy, and very delicious. Sure to be a staple in my house in the future.
For more recipes from a Weekend at Becky’s, click here!
About the book
This is another family book, owned by Becky’s grandma, and clearly very well used. She put little check marks next to recipes she made. And in this book, she left a little list of page numbers at the front of the book. The meatballs came from one of her indexed pages, and it’s clear to understand why.
The Recipe!
Ingredients:
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed tomato soup
1 lb. ground beef (or any ground meat or “meat” of your choice)
1 cup packaged pre-cooked rice
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 t salt
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 T shortening
1/2 soup can water
1 t prepared mustard
Directions:
Mix 1/4 cup soup with beef, rice, egg, onion, and salt. Shape firmly into 16 meatballs. Brown meatballs and garlic in shortening; pour off fat. Blend in remaining soup, water, and mustard. Cover; simmer for 20 minutes or until done. Stir now and then. 4 servings.
Cooking Vintage 