Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs

• 8 oz lean ground beef
• 8 oz ground pork
• 1/2 cup fresh hearty white bread crumbs*
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan
• 1 large egg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Soup

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups 1/4-inch diced carrots
• 1 1/4 cups diced yellow onion
• 3/4 cup 1/4-inch diced celery
• 4 cloves garlic , minced (1 1/2 Tbsp)
• 5 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup dry acini de pepe or orzo pasta**
• 6 oz fresh spinach , chopped
• Finely shredded parmesan , for serving

Instructions

For the meatballs:

• Add beef and pork to an oversized bowl. Add in bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, parmesan, egg, one tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Gently toss and hack mixture with hands to equally coat and distribute. form mixture into terribly little meatballs, regarding 3/4 in. to one in. and transfer to an oversized plate.

• Heat one Tbsp oil during a giant non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 the meatballs and cook till suntanned, turning often (to brown on two or three sides), regarding four minutes total. Transfer meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels whereas departure oil in frying pan. Repeat method with remaining meatballs (note that meatballs will not be grilled through at now, they will still cook through within the soup).

For the soup:

• whereas meatballs area unit browning, heat one Tbsp oil during a giant pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onions and celery and saute till veggies have softened regarding six - eight minutes, add garlic and saute one minute longer. Pour in chicken stock, season soup with salt and pepper to style and produce mixture to a boil. Add in food and meatballs, scale back heat to light-weight boil (about medium or medium-low). cowl and cook, stirring often till food is tender and meatballs have grilled through, regarding ten minutes, whereas adding in spinach throughout the minute of preparation. Serve warm, sprinkle every serving with cheese cheese.

• *I suggest victimisation bread like a La Brea loaf of bread. simply grind up a slice during a kitchen appliance to seek out crumbs. Save the remaining bread for serving (slathered with butter of course) or freeze for one more later use.

• **If you prefer a additional brothier soup you'll scale back food to 3/4 cup. Note that because the thereforeup sits the food can absorb additional broth so you'll add additional broth to skinny the soup as desired.