Great Soup Weather

Well, it has been pretty rainy the last few days, which equals great soup weather. I really do love soup, so I guess I better live this weather up because soon enough it will be scorching and that just doesn't make soup sound appetizing!

 

I was looking for a new soup recipe - you know - since I just mentioned I love it so much, when I ran across this recipe for Spring Minestrone with Chicken Meatballs. It looked pretty good, except I wanted to make more of an Italian-y style meatball, so I went with ground turkey versus the chicken because I could use a combo of plain ground turkey and the Italian seasoned ground turkey.

 

Here is the finished product - I may have made my meatballs a little too big!

 

 

 

Meatballs - I made way too many, so you could cut this recipe in half or freeze them

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 pound Italian style ground turkey
• 1/2 onion finely diced
• 4-5 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup shredded Italian cheese
• 1-2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (Use as much as you like - I like a more robust flavor, so I use more)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake
• Salt and pepper to taste

 

Mix all of your ingredients in a large bowl - do not over mix. Form into 1/2" to 1" diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. They should be nice and brown on the outside with some cheese oozing out.

 

Soup - in the meantime, put your soup together

• 1 onion diced
• 3 stalks celery diced
• 4 carrots diced or sliced
• 1-2 zucchini diced (depending on the size)
• 10 leaves basil - chopped into ribbons
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup small pasta
• 1 can kidney beans - drained and rinsed
• 6-8 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

 

In a large pot, cook your onion, celery, and carrots until the onion is translucent. Add in your meatballs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, kidney beans and cover with chicken stock. Let cook for at least an hour. About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, add in your pasta. Stir pretty consistently to assure it doesn't stick to the bottom. About 15 minutes before serving, add in your zucchini. Right before serving add in your spinach and basil and cook until just wilty. Serve with some grated Parmesan cheese on top and crusty bread.

 

I may have missed the "Spring" part, but it sure did turn out to be good soup. It seemed light - minus my gigantic meatballs.