Italian Wedding Soup

I switched up our meal plan a little bit again.  I decided since it was a bit chilly to have soup tonight.  Basically, I just switched the pepperoni roll-ups with italian wedding soup no big deal.  It's going to get back up into the 50's and everyone knows soup is more enjoyable on a cold night ;)

Italian wedding soup is one of my favorite soups EVER!  My daughter made some at a friends house years ago and it was the best soup ever.  I have been searching high and low for a recipe as good as theirs since I didn't get the recipe back then.  I wish I could just call them up and ask, but they moved out of state and so did we.  I have tried many restaurant versions and nothing comes close.

When I saw the recipe on Cinnamon Girl Recipes I knew I had to give it a try.  It sounded similar to the flavor combination I remembered.  So I decided to give it a shot and see what happens.  I made a few slight changes because I knew there were some slight differences.

Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4-1/2 cup bread crumbs (you don't want it too wet otherwise they won't stick together)
• 2 TBS parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves, minced
• 1 tsp italian seasoning blend
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Soup

• 1/2 cup carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2-3 TBS olive oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic or 4 cloves, minced
• 1 tsp basil
• 6 cups chicken broth (I used about 7 to use up the carton in my fridge)
• 2/3 cup tubeltini or ditalini (I used mini seashells because I couldn't find these)
• 1 container frozen chopped spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

1. Mix all the meatball ingredients together and form into small balls, about the size of a quarter and set aside
2. In a large stock pot heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion, celery, and carrots; season with salt and pepper and saute until tender, about 10 minutes
3. When veggies are tender add garlic and basil.  Cook until fragrant
4. Add chicken broth, bring to a slow boil, and then gently add meatballs one at a time
5. Add pasta and spinach then simmer for 25 minutes
6. Stir in parsley and parmesan cheese

This was really good!  Everyone loved it.  My daughter had 3 servings and my son had seconds.  There is still something missing from the recipe I remember, but this is the closest I have had.  I think I will add more garlic next time and maybe use italian seasoning bread crumbs in the meatballs.  Definitely worth a try :)