Italian Meatball Soup Recipe

As a busy mom who works full time, I have dinner guilt. I have come to realize that I can not make everything from scratch the way my own mother, who was a stay-at-home mom, did. Every one of her meals was delicious. I don’t know how she found the time to cook with us home. Sometimes I am so tired by dinner time that the kids ask me what is for dinner and I feel as though I just stare at them blankly. I have some standby products in my home that I secretly use to help make dinner prep easier for me.

I feel better that even though I can’t make EVERYTHING from scratch, I do cook almost all the actual meals at home.

One product that I really appreciate and use often is ready made frozen meatballs. I can make them probably 30 different ways. I hate to sound like Bubba Gump, but a few favorites at my house are barbeque meatballs, meatballs with a mushroom stroganoff style sauce served with egg noodles, sweet and sour meatballs served with rice, standard spaghetti and meatballs, plain meatballs, meatball pizza, teriyaki stirfry meatballs with broccoli, and the list goes on and on.

The other day I decided to make a delicious warm bowl of Italian Meatball Soup. It tasted great- like Italian wedding soup. The kids loved it and so did the adults!

Italian Meatball Soup

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. Casa Di Bertacchi Italian Style, frozen
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced into one inch pieces
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 24 cups low sodium chicken stock (6 -32 oz containers)
• 1 bunch of curly endive, roughly chopped
• 3 cups uncooked twist pasta
• 2/3 cups shredded Parmesan cheese, optional
• Cracked black pepper

Directions

1. Place large soup pot on medium-high heat.
2. Add olive oil and preheat for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped onions and carrots to soup pot.
3. Stir vegetables into olive oil and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent.
4. Pour chicken stock into pot with onions and carrots. Add frozen meatballs and uncooked pasta. Add rough chopped endives to soup pot.
5. Bring soup to a low rolling boil. Simmer for 10-11 minutes or until pasta is al dente and meatballs are fully heated through.
6. Season soup to taste with fresh cracked black pepper.
7. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with shredded Parmesan.

I even shared leftovers with painters who were marveling over the delicious smell! Then I took more leftovers to a PTA meeting to share! Everyone loved the soup!

Products were provided.  No compensation was received. The opinions are mine and that of my family.