Chilly winter weather is the perfect time for comfort foods in our home, like baked pasta or a bowl of soup. Although I love the idea of homemade soup I’ve never thought of them as a dish I could make until I tried this Mini Meatball Soup recipe.
Ingredients
8 oz (250 g) ground Ontario veal
3 tbsp (45 mL) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups (1 L) vegetable broth
1/2 cup (125 mL) broken spaghetti pieces
3 cups (750 mL) lightly packed baby spinach, chopped
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Preparation
- In a large bowl, using your hands, combine veal, cheese and garlic until well combined. Use a heaping teaspoonful to roll mixture into meatballs and place on plate.
- Meanwhile, in saucepan, bring broth to a gentle boil. Slowly add spaghetti and meatballs and cook, stirring for about 8 minutes or until meatballs are no longer pink inside and spaghetti is tender but firm. Stir in spinach and cook for 1 minute.
- Ladle into bowls to serve and sprinkle with more cheese if desired.
Tip: Make the meatballs ahead and freeze for up to 2 weeks, then simply cook them in the soup from frozen. Be sure to add a few more minutes to cook them through.
The recipe was easier than I expected and the kids loved it. The recipe states it yields four servings but I they were sort of small servings, more for a starter than a main dish. I think I would double the recipe next time to ensure there would be enough for our family of five and perhaps a little leftover for lunch. This Mini Meatball Soup recipe will be added to my recipe box.
Yield/Servings: about 30 meatballs/ 6 cups (1.5 L) total soup 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Per serving: About 186 cal, 19 g pro, 6 g total fat (3 g sat fat), 12 g carb, 2 g fibre, 63 mg chol, 613 mg sodium. %RDI: iron 18%, calcium 12%, vit A 100%, vit C 21%.
Source Ontario Veal Appeal (ontariovealappeal.ca).