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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Meatball and Macaroni Soup

My husband decided that for lunch today he wanted Meatball and Macaroni Soup, or as most people call it, Italian Wedding Soup.

I made a batch a few weeks ago and it was delicious, and I had enough leftovers for lunch for the next few days. I've made this for a few years, since I found the recipe in Rachael Ray's book, Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2.  My copy of the book is filled with sticky notes and food stains, so you know I've used it frequently.

Other recipes in it that my family has enjoyed include Marinated Beef, Chicken, Pork or Portobello Mushrooms, which is a simple marinade with a basic pan gravy that anyone can whip up quickly, Cheesy Orzo, a versatile side dish, and Sausage Calzones.


The recipe is below:
 Rachael Ray's Meatball & Macaroni Soup



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
  • 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

Directions

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.
While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg.
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.
I use Whole Foods Organic Chicken Broth, it really has the best flavor. I also add the spinach to each bowl individually. If you add directly the soup pot, the wilted spinach gets too stringy in the leftover soup.

    Soup's on!
    This post is part of Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food!




    14 comments:

    1. One of my sisters-in-law makes a mean Italian wedding soup. This version looks excellent. Oh and thanks for the warning/tip about the spinach.

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    2. There's nothing less appealing than soggy spinach!

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    3. That looks very tasty and it doesn't seem to hard to make. Thanks for the tip on the spinach. I will have to give this a try as we love soup in our house!

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    4. To me this sounds like a perfect soup for a winter day.

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    5. I have never had a Rachel Ray recipe yet that failed! Love Soup too we will have this for sure!

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    6. Your soup looks so good! Great recipe, we loved it. Smart about the spinach, will do that next time.

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    7. My youngest loves Italian Wedding Soup, but I've never made it at home. I'll have to give this recipe a try!

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    8. YUM!!! I have to admit that I don't have great luck with Rachael Ray's recipes because there's inevitably something in the ingredients that I don't often keep on hand. But I have everything on this list except for maybe the spinach. Will definitely try--when I do I'll try to come back and let you know how it was.

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    9. Can't wait to hear if you like it, Trish!

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    10. Thank-you so much. This is the soup that I have been wanting a recipe for. This week I have a soup post as well. I am collecting recipes for my dad. Please visit and leave a link in Mr. Linky.
      http://www.heatherpearson.com/2011/12/receip-thursday-great-soup-recipe-hunt.html

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    11. just finished making a pt of this for super tonight with enough to take some to my parents.

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    12. thanks for linking this in to Food on Friday - the url didn't click through properly for some reason but I have fixed it for you.
      Have a good day.

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      Replies
      1. Thanks for your help- I had a brain freeze moment.

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