The Soup With The Little Meatballs Recipes

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.

MEATBALL SOUP

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add meatballs, tomato sauce, bouillon, oregano, basil, thyme, salt and pepper to taste, celery, carrots, and garlic, and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add macaroni and cook until pasta is done. Top with parmesan cheese to serve.

ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP WITH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the egg white, bread crumbs and Italian seasoning. Crumble pork over mixture and mix well. Shape into 3/4-in. balls. , Place meatballs on a greased rack in a foil-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° until a thermometer reads 160°, 15-18 minutes. , Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, saute the carrots, celery, parsnip and onion in oil until tender. Stir in the broth, herbes de Provence, pepper flakes and pepper. , Drain meatballs on paper towels. Bring soup to a boil; add meatballs. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Add orzo; cook until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes longer. Add spinach; cook and stir until spinach is wilted. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. , Freeze option: Do not add orzo or spinach. Cool soup; transfer to freezer containers and freeze up to 3 months. To use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Transfer to a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Add orzo, then proceed with recipe as directed.

MINESTRA (ESCAROLE AND LITTLE MEATBALLS SOUP)

Steps:

• Trim the escarole and discard any bruised leaves. Cut off the stem ends. Seperate the leaves and wash well in cool water, especially the center of the leaves where soil collects. Stack the leaves and cut them crosswise into 1 inch strips. You should have about 4 cups.
• In a large pot, combine the escarole, broth, carrots. Bring to a simmer and cook until the escarole is almost tender, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the meatballs. Shape the mixture into tiny meatballs, less than 1 inch in diameter.
• When the escarole is cooked, stir in the pasta and return the soup to a simmer. Drop the meatballs into the soup. Cook over low heat, stirring gently, until the meatballs and pasta are cooked, about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning. At this point I drizzle in one mixed egg and stir. It makes pretty egg flower strings throughout the soup.
• Top with grated Parmesan and serve hot.

CHICKEN AND EGG SOUP WITH LITTLE VEAL MEATBALLS

Steps:

• This recipe has many personal touches: The combination of beef and chicken in the base of the recipe is something I got from my mother, studding the chicken with a couple of cloves to add a special flavor from making chicken stock at Guy Savoy in Paris and most of all, the meatballs from my parents. This soup is a meal unto itself and tastes even better leftover.
• 2 stalks celery with leaves, inner pieces from the bunch peeled of outer skin, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Soup: Season the chicken with salt, to taste, and push the 2 cloves into 1 of the chicken thighs. Add it to a large stock pot, cover with about 4 quarts water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Meanwhile, season the beef bones with salt and brown them in a cast iron pan with the canola oil, searing them over medium heat. Add them to the pot with the chicken. To the pan that the bones were seared in, over medium heat, add the carrots, celery and onion and toss until they are coated in oil. Add the thyme and bay leaves to the stock pot along with the sauteed vegetables. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and skim the surface with a ladle. Discard any oil or "scum" that accumulates. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, not too much, and lower the heat to finish cooking the chicken slowly.
• Meatballs: Put the ground veal into a medium bowl. Add the salt, garlic, Parmesan, basil, egg and bread crumbs. Use your hands to mix to blend the ingredients. Roll a small meatball and cook a "tester" ladled into the soup, if desired. Taste and reseason the meat mixture, if needed. Roll the rest of the veal into small meatballs. They should be about the size of a small cherry tomato. (Chef's Note: Imperfectly rolled meatballs actually make this soup more homey and real.) Arrange the meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate.
• After about 45 minutes at a gentle simmer, taste the chicken soup and adjust the seasoning, if needed. Use a large spoon and a pair of tongs to remove the chicken to a baking sheet or other flat surface and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Remove the beef bones and scoop out the marrow. Add it to the soup, if desired. Remove and discard the fresh thyme and bay leaves. Take the breast and thigh meat off the chicken, taking care to discard the bones and skin. Break the chicken into bite-size pieces, but not too small, and add them to the soup.
• Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and add the meatballs. Allow it to continue simmering for a couple of minutes so the meatballs have a chance to cook. Drizzle in the eggs and continue to mix as they cook. They should look like little threads in the soup. Stir in the spinach and taste for seasoning. Transfer the soup to serving bowls and serve sprinkled with the Parmesan.

THE SOUP WITH THE LITTLE MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1 cup cheese, Italian seasoning, egg and ground beef. Mix together well and form into small meatballs, no larger than 1 inch in diameter; set aside.
• In a large pot over medium high heat, combine the chicken broth and 2 cups cheese. Bring this to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Slowly add the meatballs, stirring gently so that they do not clump together into one uber-meatball. Cook for about 30 minutes, until beef is no longer pink and broth is slightly thickened.
• Add the pasta, again stirring gently so that they do not clump, and cook for about 30 more minutes, until pasta is tender and flavors are well blended. Season to taste and serve immediately.

CHICKEN SOUP WITH MINI-MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, water, egg, 1/3 cup onion, bread crumbs, cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
• Shape the mixture into small 1-inch meatballs.
• In a large pot, combine the broth, carrots, celery, 1/2 large onion and bring them to a simmer. Add the orzo and let it cook for 5 minutes (pastina takes 2 minutes), stirring frequently.
• Add the meatballs and simmer them in broth for 15-20 minutes. Then stir in the spinach and simmer it until it's wilted, about 1 minute.
• (I also have added fresh parsley to the soup when I have it! - about 1/4 cup chopped).

ESCAROLE AND LITTLE MEATBALL SOUP

Steps:

• Trim the escarole and discard any bruised leaves. Cut off the stem ends. Separate the leaves and wash well in cool water, especially the center of the leaves where soil collects. Stack the leaves and cut them crosswise into 1-inch strips. You should have about 4 cups.
• Combine the escarole, carrots, and stock in a large pot. Bring to a simmer and cook until the escarole is almost tender, about 30 minutes.
• To make the meatballs
• Meanwhile, combine the ground meat, bread crumbs, cheese, onion, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Shape the mixture into tiny balls, less than 1 inch in diameter.
• To assemble
• When the escarole is almost tender, stir in the pasta and return the soup to the simmer. Drop the meatballs into the soup. Cook over low heat, stirring gently, until the meatballs and pasta are cooked, about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Serve hot with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.