Kid-Friendly Italian Wedding Inspired Soup

With the weather cooling down a bit this week, I am reminded of one of my favorite soup recipes.

My mother “invented” this combination for us when we were visiting one weekend this past spring. It is packed with nutrients, and my daughter loves it. I use frozen vegetables in this recipe, but you could use fresh or canned also. 

I’ve mentioned my husband’s aversion to ground poultry before, but even he has taken a liking to this.

Ingredients
~1lb. ground chicken
Bag of frozen chopped spinach
Bag of frozen peas and carrots
(1) Can of white kidney beans (cannellini beans)
(1) Small onion (or 1/2 large)
(1) Large clove of garlic (or two small ones)
Chicken broth/stock
Parmesan/Romano cheese (approximately 1/2 cup)
(1) Egg
Mini-whole wheat pasta shells
Italian style breadcrumbs
Salt & Pepper

The Meatballs
Finely chop onion and mince garlic, sauté in extra virgin light olive oil in the bottom of a stock pot until onions are clear. Add onions and garlic to ground chicken. Add handful of spinach, parmesan cheese, egg, breadcrumbs and salt and pepper, mix all ingredients by hand well. Roll into small (1/2 inch) meatballs, cook on greased (light spray) baking sheet at 400 degrees till cooked and browned.

The Soup:
Add stock to pot used for sautéing onions and garlic. Add carrots, peas, beans and more spinach (however much you prefer). Can add salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and parmesan cheese to taste.

Add meatballs, bring to boil then cover and simmer on low for about an hour (more if using frozen veggies). Cook tiny whole wheat shells (or other small pasta), then add them to the soup before serving. If you are making the soup ahead of time, it’s best to keep the cooked pasta separated till it’s time to serve, otherwise, it may get mushy.

This is a great recipe for making over the weekend to have available for week night dinners and to pack for lunches.