Mini Meatball Minestra Rachael Ray Recipes

MINI MEATBALL MINESTRA AND GRILLED PROVOLONE

Steps:

• In a heavy bottomed soup pot heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add onions and 2 cloves of garlic and saute 4 to 5 minutes then add the escarole and wilt. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in beans, add stock and water and bring to boil.
• While stock comes to a boil, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, milk, a handful of cheese, fennel, allspice, parsley, salt and pepper. Combine and roll into 1-inch balls, and add to the soup. Cook 2 minutes then add in pasta and cook 6 minutes more. Turn off the heat, garnish with lemon zest and serve with cheese passed at the table.

MINI MEATBALL SOUP

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

MINI SAUSAGE MEATBALL MINESTRA

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Roll the sausage into walnut-sized meatballs. Drop them into the skillet and brown on all sides, then remove them to a plate.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, then add the escarole and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, to taste. Cook until the escarole has wilted. Add the beans and cook until heated through. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil, then add the pasta and cook to al dente.
• Return the meatballs back to the pot for the last 4 minutes of cooking. Adjust the seasonings and ladle into serving bowls. Heavily sprinkle each serving with cheese and serve with crusty bread for mopping.

MINI SAUSAGE MEATBALL MINESTRA

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the EVOO in a large skillet. Roll the sausage into walnut-sized meatballs. Drop them into the skillet and brown on all sides, then remove. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes, then wilt in the escarole and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the beans and heat through. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil, then add the pasta and cook to al dente. Add the meatballs back to the pot for the last 4 minutes of cooking. Adjust the seasonings and serve with cheese sprinkled heavily on top. Pass the crusty bread for mopping.

MINI MEATBALL MINESTRA

Steps:

• In a heavy bottomed soup pot heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add onions and 2 cloves of garlic and saute 4 to 5 minutes then add the escarole and wilt. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in beans, add stock and water and bring to boil.
• While stock comes to a boil, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, milk, a handful of cheese, fennel, allspice, parsley, salt and pepper. Combine and roll into 1-inch balls, and add to the soup. Cook 2 minutes then add in pasta and cook 6 minutes more.
• Turn off the heat, garnish with lemon zest and serve with cheese passed at the table.