Recipes

[Chi-town girl]

Looking for some new soup receipes? As much as we love my "classics" chicken soup or potato soup, we're getting bored with them.

This looks good!

Mini Meatball Soup

• Level: Easy
• Total: 47 min

• Prep: 20 min
• Cook: 27 min

• Yield: 4 big servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 bay leaves, fresh or dried

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ground beef, pork and veal combined

1 egg, beaten

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, a couple of handfuls

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg

6 cups chicken stock or broth

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups dried pasta, rings, broken fettuccini or ditalini

1 pound triple washed fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

Grilled 4 Cheese Sandwiches, recipe follows*

Grilled 4 Cheese Sandwiches

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan

3 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, cracked away from skin

8 slices crusty Italian semolina bread

1 cup shredded provolone

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano

1 cup shredded Asiago

Directions

1. In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg.
3. Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot. You are making meat dumplings that will cook in the broth. When you are done rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes. When pasta is tender, stir in chopped spinach in batches. When spinach has wilted into the soup, the soup is done and ready to serve. Adjust your seasonings. Serve soup with crusty bread or grilled 4 cheese sandwiches.

Grilled 4 Cheese Sandwiches

1. In a small skillet over medium low heat, combine oil, butter and garlic. Cook garlic in butter and oil gently for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove garlic butter mixture from heat.
2. Place a large nonstick skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Using a pastry brush, brush 1 side of 4 slices of bread with garlic oil and place buttered side down in skillet. Top each slice with equal amounts of the 4 cheeses, distributing them equally over the 4 slices. Top each sandwich with another slice of bread brushed with garlic butter, buttered side up. Flip the grill cheese sandwiches a few times until cheeses are melted and gooey and bread is toasty and golden. Cut grilled 4 cheese sandwiches from corner to corner and serve.

[Toots711]

Thank You for posting this recipe @Chi-town girl!

I will try to make it soon.

[Chi-town girl]

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@Toots711 wrote:

Thank You for posting this recipe @Chi-town girl!

I will try to make it soon.

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You're welcome @Toots711 

I'm definitely going to make it soon 

I wondering if I can just use ground beef instead of the beef/pork/veal mix and still have it turn out good??? Or half beef half pork?

[RespectLife]

Italian Wedding Soup!

Usually it is made w/ anci de pepe (baby pastina) but Ditalini works too!

I am lucky that the Italian mkt near my house has frozen mini meatballs!  I could never have the patience to make them that small.  LOL

What also works in a pinch is buying your favorite frozen meatballs and just dicing them.

[nada54]

You could.  But the best meatballs have the mixture.   At our store they sell what they call 'meatloaf mix'    its perfect for meatballs.   Its all in there.   Thanks for posting.  Love recipes, especially when its so cold.

[Chi-town girl]

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@RespectLife wrote:

Italian Wedding Soup!

Usually it is made w/ anci de pepe (baby pastina) but Ditalini works too!

I am lucky that the Italian mkt near my house has frozen mini meatballs!  I could never have the patience to make them that small.  LOL

What also works in a pinch is buying your favorite frozen meatballs and just dicing them.

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@RespectLife - oh, I haven't made a Italian Wedding Soup. I love the process of just rolling and dumping in the meatballs to cook in the soup. I will check with the butcher in our store for the meat mixture. TY @RespectLife 

[Chi-town girl]

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@nada54 wrote:

You could.  But the best meatballs have the mixture.   At our store they sell what they call 'meatloaf mix'    its perfect for meatballs.   Its all in there.   Thanks for posting.  Love recipes, especially when its so cold.

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Thank you @nada54 

[godi]

Yum yum. Thanks @Chi-town girl 

[Carmie]

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@RespectLife wrote:

Italian Wedding Soup!

Usually it is made w/ anci de pepe (baby pastina) but Ditalini works too!

I am lucky that the Italian mkt near my house has frozen mini meatballs!  I could never have the patience to make them that small.  LOL

What also works in a pinch is buying your favorite frozen meatballs and just dicing them.

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Americanized Italian wedding soup uses pasta ans spinach.

My Italian family's recipe uses chicken broth, a couple of heads of escarole, mini meatballs, and whipped eggs and grated cheese.  No pasta is used at all.

Anyway you make,  it tastes good.

I have rolled thousands of mini meatballs in my lifetime.

[jubilant]

@Chi-town girl  I'm looking for more soup recipes.  This one sounds yummy. The only thing I might cut down on is the nutmeg.  I love it but DH doesn't so much.  Maybe 1/4 tsp. would do it. Thanks for sharing it.