Italian Wedding Soup

from September/October 2014 Taste of Home

Ingredients:

for meatballs

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• freshly ground black pepper
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 pound ground chicken or turkey

for soup

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 2 small or 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 ribs of celery, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups small pasta [like acini di pepe, orzo, or ditalini]
• 2 – 10 ounce packages fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• additional Parmesan, for serving

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the meatballs. Mix well–your hands are going to work best! Roll into small, 1 inch meatballs and place on a baking sheet and pop in the fridge to chill for a few minutes.

Next, begin on the soup. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add carrots and onion and cook until almost tender, about 6 minutes. Add celery and cook another 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Pour in chicken broth and season with pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Gently drop in meatballs. Allow to cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Add pasta and allow to cook for another 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until meatballs and pasta are fully cooked. Stir in spinach, then serve, topped with more Parmesan. Enjoy!