Recipe: Easy Italian Wedding Soup

I happen to be one of those people who eats soup no matter the weather.  Freezing, chilly, warm, sunny, snowy, hot and humid... doesn't matter. I LOVE soup.  Since Mother Nature apparently didn't get cc'd on the Groundhog's memo, it was cold here for the end of April.  

I have to admit, this recipe is not the most complicated thing.  It is a little tedious, but the steps are not difficult.  Usually I prefer recipes with a little more depth, but I was tired after work today and que sera sera.

I also tried to remember to take pictures along the way.  Key word here is tried.

Ok. Step 1- Find a really cute apron especially if you are prone to spills/constantly misplace your dishtowel.

Cheesy and corny, yes I know.  Please ignore the dark circles and lack of make up.  Today was a very trying day in the 5th grade. We did a lot of math.  And I had a first period prep.  Although I did get to go to the ice cream party in the 4th grade because I did my homework. (Actually, I didn't do my homework. Oh well, too bad, so sad).

Step 2- Gather your ingredients.

1. Pasta (amount depends on how many servings you are making), I used 1/3 cup ditalini

2. Chicken broth (homemade or whatever you prefer. I happened to have some homemade leftover and some store brand leftover so I just combined what I had.)

3. Spinach.  If your local grocery store happens to have fresh spinach that looks good, by all means, get that.  If it looks soggy and gross, then do what I did and buy some frozen chopped spinach.  I really like spinach so I put about 1/4 cup into each serving of soup.

4. A combo of ground beef and ground pork (for the meatballs)

5. Breadcrumbs

6. An egg

7. Seasonings- kosher salt, fresh pepper, basil, oregano, parsley

8. Onion and garlic, finely minced and sautéed briefly in just a smidge of olive oil

9. A few drops of balsamic vinaigrette 

Basically what I do is start heating up the broth/stock in a pot on the stove while I am preparing the meatballs.  Turn it on to a really low simmer so the contents will be boiled just about when you start to cook the meatballs.

Step 3- Get dirty. Seriously. I know that raw meat scheeves some people out, so find gloves if you want.  Otherwise, just start mixing all your meatball ingredients together.

I went a little heavy on the breadcrumbs because I wasn't paying attention.  That's what I get for being debriefed about Game of Thrones while cooking. Oh well. My literary palate deserves just as much deliciousness in terms of books as my actual palate does food.

I made this batch of meatballs normal sized, forgetting that I was putting them in soup. (Again, Game of Thrones. Whatever.)  The second batch I made were much smaller- maybe about half a teaspoon.  However there is no picture of the teeny tiny little meatballs because my hands were covered and I wasn't about to touch my phone.

Into the non-stick fry pan you go!

Whoops, some got a little too brown.  This time it was because I was having a dance party in the kitchen.  Wooden spoons make great microphones.

By now your pot of soup should be boiled, dump in the macaroni, stir, set your timer, with a few minutes left toss in your spinach, taste, season, toss in a few meatballs, done!  I was so tired and ready to eat that I forgot to take a picture of my soup before I started eating.  

Oh, and I sprinkled some freshly grated parmesan cheese on top.  

Delicious.  This mug (compliments of my bff Allison) is my favorite mug ever and I use it for everything.  It is huge and holds an entire bowl of soup or about 2.5 cups of coffee. All of these things are necessary to my survival (bff, coffee, soup. In that order.)

I have a feeling that I will not be cooking tomorrow.  Depending on this ridiculous weather I will most likely just make some more soup.  Cooking today used up almost all of my spoons [See The Spoon Theory, an excellent analogy about living with chronic illness/disability], gardening took up a few more, blogging a few more... and I have a crazy early wake up call tomorrow.  

So on that note, I'm over and out.