Italian Wedding Soup

Happy Halloween!  Tonight is a great night for soup!  Eat a nice big bowl to warm you up before you go trick-or-treating!  This soup is SOOO flavorful & delicious!  The meatballs are plump & full of Italian seasonings.  The broth is simple, but well-seasoned with onion & garlic powder.  I believe the broth is actually supposed to be a little more transparent than pictured, but it's because I cooked my pasta in the broth, so the starch from the pasta made it a little foggy.  The texture of the Acini Di Pepe pasta is so fun to roll around in your mouth.  You are going to love this soup!  It's super simple to make & so delicious to eat!  Plus it's another healthy soup, so you can eat that second helping to keep you warm & full for the cold fall & winter months.

Italian Wedding Soup

Recipe altered from Taste of Home by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

Meatballs:

• 1 lb 97% lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup bread crumb
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 egg

Soup:

• 2 quarts (8 cups) chicken broth
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup acini di pepe (round pasta)
• 2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley or 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 cup loosely packed spinach, thinly sliced

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs.  Shape into 1" balls.  I used my teaspoon measuring spoon to make them nice & small.  Round the balls in your palms to create a nice round meatball.
2. In a large stock pot or dutch oven, brown meatballs.  (If you aren't using lean beef, you will want to do this in small batches & drain the fat off.)  Add the broth, onion powder, garlic powder, ground black pepper & salt.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat & simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.  
3. Add acini di pepe pasta to the soup.  Cook 10 minutes or according to package directions.  Add fresh parsley & spinach just before serving.  Stir well & serve hot.

Happy Halloween!  Tonight is a great night for soup!  Eat a nice big bowl to warm you up before you go trick-or-treating!  This soup is SOOO flavorful & delicious!  The meatballs are plump & full of Italian seasonings.  The broth is simple, but well-seasoned with onion & garlic powder.  I believe the broth is actually supposed to be a little more transparent than pictured, but it's because I cooked my pasta in the broth, so the starch from the pasta made it a little foggy.  The texture of the Acini Di Pepe pasta is so fun to roll around in your mouth.  You are going to love this soup!  It's super simple to make & so delicious to eat!  Plus it's another healthy soup, so you can eat that second helping to keep you warm & full for the cold fall & winter months.

Italian Wedding Soup

Recipe altered from Taste of Home by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

Meatballs:

• 1 lb 97% lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup bread crumb
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 egg

Soup:

• 2 quarts (8 cups) chicken broth
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup acini di pepe (round pasta)
• 2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley or 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 cup loosely packed spinach, thinly sliced

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs.  Shape into 1" balls.  I used my teaspoon measuring spoon to make them nice & small.  Round the balls in your palms to create a nice round meatball.
2. In a large stock pot or dutch oven, brown meatballs.  (If you aren't using lean beef, you will want to do this in small batches & drain the fat off.)  Add the broth, onion powder, garlic powder, ground black pepper & salt.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat & simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.  
3. Add acini di pepe pasta to the soup.  Cook 10 minutes or according to package directions.  Add fresh parsley & spinach just before serving.  Stir well & serve hot.