I have been dreaming about this cauliflower soup ever since I first saw it on the Food 52 site last month.  I don’t know why.   There’s nothing at all that’s fancy about it.   And, it’s probably one of the simplest soups in the world to make.   But, something about it just spoke to me – or rather gently whispered in my ear, over and over again.  It looked so light and bright and pure – almost cleansing, in a way.   I filed away the recipe, knowing that I would get back to it as soon as I found some beautiful, fresh cauliflower that was worthy of it. 

This recipe for this soup comes from Paul Bertolli’s book, Cooking by Hand.  Bertolli was a chef at the famed Chez Panisse for over ten years, so it’s not surprising that he knows exactly how to make a cauliflower sing.  And, sing it does!  There are only five ingredients in this soup, and one of them is water.   None of them are butter or cream.  Yet, it is so smooth and velvety, you’d never guess.  It’s the perfect little, guilt-free indulgence after eating your way through a long Holiday season.

To start, onions are sautéed in olive oil over low heat until they are tender and sweet.

Then, the cauliflower is added and stewed with the onions.  After that, the water is added to the pot and everything simmers.   I swapped out a cup or so of the water with some chicken stock.  You don’t need to do this.  I just did because I had some broth in the fridge that I needed to use.

Once the cauliflower has finished cooking, the whole pot is pureed into the smoothest, most divinely luxurious soup you’ll ever taste.  I swear!  But, don’t take my word for it.   Make a pot for yourself.  Then, slide into your fluffiest bathrobe, put some cool cucumber slices over your eyes and pretend you’re at a fancy schmancy spa.

This week, I scored some gorgeous English green peas in my basket from SunCoast Organics.  To say I was excited is an understatement.  I love fresh English peas!  I love them so much, that I even eat them raw – right out of the pod.  When I saw how lovely and perfect these were, I knew exactly what I wanted to make with them.   This Minted Spring Pea Soup is bright and vibrant, and would be a delightful addition to your Easter table.

English green peas and mint are very simpatico.   Lucky for me, the mint in my garden is growing wild right now.   I can’t use it up fast enough!  So of course, I had to pair them together in this soup.

Soups like this one are so easy to make.  A whole delicious, herbaceous batch can be pulled together in about thirty minutes.  The most time consuming part of the process is shelling your peas.  And, most of the ingredients you’ll need are probably already lurking in your pantry.

Aren’t these little guys cute?  They’re pea soup “shooters”.   “Pea” “shooters”.  Get it?  Hehe!   Sometimes, I crack myself up!   I topped them with a smidge of crème fraiche and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

My original recipe calls for a little heavy cream.  But, you don’t really need it.  I didn’t use any in this batch.  The soup is very velvety and luxurious all on its own.   And without the cream, the bright, fresh flavor of the peas and mint really shine through.

I want to tell you that you can substitute frozen peas to make this soup – and you can.  But, I have to be honest.  It’s just not the same.  You can, however, make this soup with edamame.  It doesn’t have the same subtle sweetness as with the peas, but it is very good all the same.

Have you ever heard of Asian Wedding Soup?  Neither have I.  I did a quick Google search on it and didn’t find anything either.  Actually, I just made the name up because this soup was intended to be an Asian counterpart to traditional Italian wedding soup, which is also a misnomer as that dish has nothing to do with weddings either.  But, it works for me and I’ll tell you why.

Italian wedding soup is a a traditional Neapolitan soup containing greens, little meatballs and pasta suspended in a clear broth.  It gets its name from the harmonious “marriage” of flavors of the ingredients in it.  My Asian Wedding Soup works much the same way.  It also contains greens, little meatballs and pasta suspended in a clear broth.  And, the flavors all marry very well together.  Except that instead of spinach or escarole, this soup contains baby bok choy and Napa cabbage.  Instead of pastina, it has rice noodles.  And, while both soups contain little meatballs, the Asian version is made with pork and minced shrimp, and is flavored with garlic, ginger, scallions, soy and fish sauce.  Even the broth is different, permeated with hints of coriander, ginger, clove and star anise.   So, while the basic components of both soups are the same, they differ greatly in execution.  The broth is based on the Vietnamese Phở Gà.  It’s like a pho fusion or a confused pho, depending on how you look at it.   Either way, I thought the dish was a big hit.

Of course, it is always preferable to use homemade chicken broth, but canned broth works very well in this soup.  And, unless you happen to have a stash of the homemade stuff in your freezer, canned will save you loads of time, making this soup a great choice for a weeknight meal.

As tasty as the broth for this soup is, for me, the real stars of the show are the meatballs.  I wanted them to be very light and almost fluffy, like the filling of a good dumpling.  To achieve the texture I was looking for, I started with some finely ground pork mixed with shrimp that I minced up in the food processor.  I added all of the typical seasonings and an egg to hold it together.  But, my secret weapon for making these meatballs practically float away is silken tofu. I always use it in my dumpling fillings, so I thought it would work well here as well.  Mixing in a little silken tofu softens the meatballs and gives them a slightly creamy quality.  Plus, the tofu has no real flavor of its own, so it soaks up all the other ones, enhancing them.

In addition to the greens, meatballs and noodles, I also added a mix of shiitake, oyster and enoki mushrooms to my soup, as well as some snowpeas and scallions.  I garnished it with fresh bean sprouts, cilantro, red chili slices and lime wedges.  Sadly, Thai basil was nowhere to be found around here, so I had to do without.    It was a lovely, fragrant soup with loud pops of flavor.  The meatballs turned out exactly the way I’d hoped they would.  They were perfect!  My little fusion experiment was a great success!

When I was a little girl, my grandfather worked as a longshoreman for the New York Port Authority.   For most of his career, he worked the night shift.  This meant that from Monday through Friday, he was rarely ever around at dinner time.  As a result, my Nonna  usually kept weeknight meals simple, since it was only her – and sometimes me – dining in.  Nonna was a big fan of bean dishes and she made them often. They were easy, nutritious and cheap.  And my Nonna was nothing if not frugal, as most World War 2 wives were.  Cucina povera was her specialty.

I’ve already shared Nonna’s recipe for Pasta e Fagioli, or “Pasta Fazool”, as we affectionately call it.  But another pasta and beans dish that we ate a lot of back then, was Pasta e Lenticchie, or pasta with lentils.  Although a lot of recipes portray both dishes as soups, neither dish is intended to be one, but rather a thick, wet, sloppy stew, with just enough liquid in them to sop up with a hunk of crusty Italian bread. 

Lentils are members of the legume family and come in many different varieties, from black and yellow to red and green.  They have a mild, earthy and sometimes nutty flavor, depending on what kind you use.   Like other legumes, lentils are low in fat and high in protein and fiber.  Because of their small size, they also cook quite a bit quicker than other types of beans, and they don’t need to be soaked first.   For some tips on cooking lentils, take a look at this article from About.com.

In Italian culture, the lentil’s biggest claim to fame is that it is one of the traditional “must eat” foods on New Year’s Eve. Eating lentils on New Year’s Eve is believed to bring good luck and prosperity throughout the following year.  Their small, round shape resembles coins that swell when cooked, so they are looked upon as a symbol of wealth. Italians are absolutely militant about this.  In fact, my grandmother wouldn’t even think of serving a meal on December 31 that didn’t include lentils in some form.

Pasta e Lenticchie, like Pasta e Fagioli, is a simple, rustic dish prepared with just a handful of basic ingredients.  Garlic and onions are sautéed in olive oil to which lentils, tomatoes, water and pasta are added and simmered to tenderness.  There isn’t much more to it than that.  I use chicken broth instead of water as my simmering liquid for extra flavor, but I’m pretty sure that my grandmother made do with plain, old H2O from the tap.

Dishes like this Pasta e Lenticchie are pure comfort food for me.  Cooking, and of course, eating them always transports me back to being six years-old in my grandmother’s homey, little kitchen.  Those were golden times for me.

My Nonna passed away over thirty years ago – just a few years after we moved to Florida.  I was fourteen and the memory of it still stings.  She was much too young and went much too soon.  I hardly had a chance to really get to know her beyond her infectious laugh, twinkling brown eyes and the heady scent of Cashmere Bouquet and Noxema that trailed her as she entered a room.  And it’s such a shame, because I have a feeling that as the years went on, we would have had a whole lot more in common than just DNA.

What are your favorite comfort foods?  Is there any one dish above all others that makes you think of “home”?  Does your family have any New Year’s Eve food traditions?  “Enquiring minds” want to know.

Buon Appetito!

One of this month’s rotation of French Fridays with Dorie recipes is Leek and Potato Soup.  As luck would have it, I just happened to have a surplus of potatoes and leeks that didn’t get used for Thanksgiving.  Poor little things!  They’ve been feeling lonely and unloved just sitting there in the fridge.  We can’t have that, now can we?  So, the recipe for this soup couldn’t have come at a better time.

Leek and potato soup is like the American first cousin to the popular French classic, vichyssoise,  a thick soup made of puréed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock that is traditionally served cold.  Dorie specifies that her soup can be served either warm or chilled, and also chunky or pureed.  I chose to serve mine warm and pureed.

Since I had 6 leeks on hand, I used all leeks instead of the suggested combination of leeks and onions to make my soup.  I also simmered my ingredients in chicken broth instead of water.  I think that the broth gives the soup a nicer flavor.  I also added some half and half to the mix for a little extra richness.  But the pièce de résistance was a sprinkling of some truffle salt at the end.  I love to use truffle salt in mashed potatoes and gratins, so I thought it would also work well in this dish.  I was so right!  The truffle salt gave my little potage a delicate, musky earthiness that was just enough to put it over the top.  Magnifique!

I find it funny how an unassuming little soup like this one can be so elegant in its simplicity, but it is.  Maybe it’s because it’s French.  What I don’t find funny is that I don’t make soups like this nearly often enough.  That’s just sad.  This leek and potato soup is really delightful and with only a handful of ingredients, is a breeze to prepare.

If you’d like to enjoy Dorie’s Leek and Potato Soup for yourself, you’ll have to buy Around My French Table, because I’m not sharing.    Of course, you can always stop by the French Fridays with Dorie site and see what’s cooking over there.  Maybe someone will take pity on you and give you some soup.

Bon Appetit!

I hope that all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful one.   I, for one, am glad it’s over.  I don’t know about you, but for me, the Holidays are a mixed bag.  Between all the shopping, prepping and cooking, there is so much work (and stress) leading up to the big day.  Then, when you finally do get to sit down to enjoy the fruits of your labor, all you can think about is that huge mess left in the kitchen and how many loads in the dishwasher it will take to get it under control.  And, God forbid the rest of your dining companions don’t gush and swoon enough over your food after all of the hours and hours you spent slaving over it!  You can then feel both inadequate and resentful at the same time.  Did I mention that I’m a Type A personality?  And, a hopeless perfectionist?  In any event, it isn’t until the last pot is scrubbed and the leftovers are safely tucked away in their Tupperware containers that I can take a deep breath and relax. For me, that’s when the fun begins.  That’s when I start thinking about what I’m going to conjure up with all the leftovers. 

I sincerely hope that none of you ever, ever throw away the turkey carcass after your Thanksgiving feast.  I’m kind of ambivalent about the turkey itself, but I always make sure we have one, because those slow roasted bones make the most lovely rich and flavorful stock.   You can use that stock for all kinds of different recipes, but my favorite thing to make with it is a big pot of nurturing, restorative soup.

Cooking up a batch of turkey soup is a welcome respite from the frazzled frenzy of putting together a holiday meal.  It’s cathartic – almost like therapy.  And, it’s a no brainer.  You just drop the carcass in a big stock pot, add some vegetable chunks, fill the pot with water and let it simmer a few hours while you drag all of the Christmas decorations down from the attic.  Or in my case, while you nag your husband to do it as his a$$ is usually glued to the sofa watching football.  Sigh…..

My starch of choice for homemade soup is pastina or some other kind of small pasta. I always have some in my pantry, it cooks quickly and hey – I’m Italian!  This time, however, I decided to add barley.  Barley does take a bit longer to cook, but I love its faint nuttiness and slightly chewy texture.  It holds up really nicely to a bolder, more robust soup like this one.

With Christmas right around the corner, there’s just a small window of time before the lunacy begins again.  So, do yourself a favor and make a big old pot of turkey barley soup, put on your fuzzy slippers and relax a bit while you still can!

I’m really enjoying this new little group, French Fridays with Dorie.  So is Mr. SGCC.  He likes that I’m cooking real food, and not just sweets.  I like that too, but I also like that if I get really busy I don’t have to participate every week.  It takes the pressure off and allows me to enjoy the recipes I do make, because I choose to.

I couldn’t join in last week because I was in San Francisco for BlogHer Food.  So was Dorie.  Did I mention that I met her?  I did!  And, she was lovely.  That’s all I’m going to say about it now, because I haven’t posted my recap yet.  You’ll just have to be patient.  Patience is a virtue, you know. 

This week’s FFwD recipe is Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup.  I loved it!

Dorie’s soup has lots of bright, fresh flavors like ginger, garlic and chilies.  The base is made with chicken broth and creamy coconut milk.  I adore anything made with coconut milk!   Though not in the original recipe, I also added some Penang chili paste to my soup.  Chili paste and coconut milk are BFFs.  Everyone needs a BFF – even chili paste and coconut milk. 

I used thin Vietnamese rice noodles in my soup.  They’re the same kind that my favorite Vietnamese restaurant puts in its Phở.  I love Phở too, but it takes all day to make.  Dorie’s soup just as delicious, and only takes about an hour to put together.  That’s my kind of soup!

If you’d like to try this recipe for yourself (and you really should), you’ll have to buy Dorie’s Around My French Table.  You should buy it anyway, because it’s a fantastic cookbook.  If you’d like to see many, many more bowls of Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup,  stop by the FFwD web site and enjoy!

There’s a lot of Sandra Lee bashing that goes on in the “Foodie” world.  Come on, admit it.  We’ve all snickered at her cute little outfits that she matches to her kitchen decor in every episode. We’ve giggled at her seemingly unnatural preoccupation with fancy, fruity cocktails. We’ve chortled at her oh, so perfect “tablescapes”, because after all, who has the time to run around collecting all of that flotsam and jetsam, much less arrange it into a cohesive backdrop to show off a bunch of desserts made from store bought angel food cake and pudding cups.  And, most of us have downright sneered at her proclivity for concocting dishes out of boxed, canned, prepackaged food products.  Personally, I absolutely cringe every time I hear her mispronounce mascarpone. (That’s right, Sandra. It’s MASCARPONE, not MARSCAPONE. Got it? Thanks.)

Yes, indeed.  We’ve all had our fun at Sandra’s expense.  Yet I must confess, she kind of fascinates me.  While I’ve never been that kind of cutesy, matchy, crafty person, I secretly wish I could be.  I’d love to be able to whip up a lovely, themed buffet table out of pine cones, plastic flowers and pipe cleaners! And, though I don’t use a lot of processed foods in my own cooking, I can certainly appreciate Sandra’s creative energy and resourcefulness in hers. She fills a pretty wide niche for those who don’t have the time or inclination to spend hours in the kitchen.  In fact, I have tried a few of her “Semi-Homemade” recipes, and they were pretty tasty.

Case in point: A few days ago, Sandra did an episode on “tropical food”.  One of the dishes she made was a sort of Thai chicken curry with a peanut sauce, and I have to say, it looked good.  So good, that I decided to try it for myself – with several tweaks.  In her recipe, Sandra uses chunks of chicken breast.  I went with chicken thighs, because they tend to stay moister when cooked in small pieces.  She also relies on frozen vegetables.  I used fresh, because it only takes a few extra minutes to chop up a few peppers and some green beans.  Sandra also omits garlic in her version. I think that is a sin, so I added some.  I included sliced onions, scallions and a splash of fish sauce in the dish as well, because I like them.  I also made this a one pot dish by sautéing the chicken and vegetables separately, removing them, making the sauce in the same pan and then adding it all together.  Oh yes, and I also toasted the red curry paste before adding it to the peanut curry sauce.  I know it sounds like a lot of changes, but it really isn’t.  I used all of the original ingredients in the recipe. I just added a few extra and put them together a little differently.

First, you need to chop up your chicken.

Then, slice up your vegetables.

Heat the oil. (Doesn’t it look like a cute little sea creature?)

Brown the chicken and vegetables.

Look at that curry paste sizzle!

Mix up the peanut sauce and toss it all together.

Let me tell you, people, this dish was beyond fabulous!  Seriously! No one was more surprised than I was.  My little family of three ate the whole, entire batch! Mr. SGCC and Mini SGCC were actually fighting over the last few grains of rice left in the bowl!  That peanut curry sauce was so delicious. It had it all – heat, spice, salt and sweet. And, it was ready to eat in under an hour.  I served the chicken with some coconut rice (not instant) and a nice, tossed salad (not frozen).  This is one dish that I know I will make again and again.  My hat is off to Sandra for creating it.  I’ll definitely think twice before I criticize another one of her recipes without trying it first – and I hope you will too.

Chicken with Peanut Curry Sauce
very liberally adapted from Sandra Lee

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt and pepper
1 medium sweet onion, sliced thinly
8 ounces fresh green beans cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
3-4 cloves garlic minced
4-5 scallions, thinly sliced

For sauce:
2 heaping tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth,
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
Lime wedges for garnishing
Cilantro sprigs for garnishing

Directions:

1.  Toss chicken and cornstarch together in a bowl until well mixed.  Season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken sauté until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Remove to another container and set aside.

2.  Add onion, pepper strips and green beans and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.  Remove to the same container as the chicken.

3.  Make the peanut curry sauce. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients except curry paste.until smooth.  Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in the frying pan and add curry paste, smushing it into the oil.  Cook curry paste for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients into the pan, mix well and bring to a boil.  Add the chicken and vegetables and stir to combine. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens slightly, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in scallions and serve over  steamed rice.

Serves 4.

In my family, Thanksgiving dinner always begins with the primi piatti, or first course. It’s the Italian way.  Don’t even try to slap a turkey, stuffing and some sides on the table without first serving some type of soup, pasta or risotto dish.    But, let’s face it.  Who could possibly ingest, much less savor, turkey and all of the trimmings after scarfing down a plate full of homemade manicotti or porcini risotto?  Maybe that’s the reason why in Italian families, Thanksgiving dinner is usually an all day affair, with several “rest” periods between courses to enable diners to take short naps or walks around the block?   That’s also why, if given the choice, I usually go for a soup.

When soup was on the holiday menu at our house, my mother usually made a big pot of Minestra Maritata, or Italian Wedding Soup.  It’s a light, flavorful soup made with chicken stock, greens and little, tiny, light-as-air veal meatballs, and which by the way, has nothing to do with weddings.  It was, and still is, a very popular dish, if not a predictable one.   But, sometimes, I just want to stir things up and throw something unexpected into the mix.   Here’s a dish that none of cooks in my Italian family would ever think of putting on their Thanksgiving table.  None except me, that is. 

My Roasted Butternut Soup is velvety, and fragrant, punctuated by the earthy flavors of sage, garam masala and ginger.  It’s a savory soup that doesn’t suffer from the cloying sweetness that many winter squash dishes sometimes have. The squash is roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and tossed with the salt and spices to give it a warm, well-rounded depth of flavor.   While there is some cream in this soup, I’ve reduced the amount to just enough to add a little richness while still letting the butternut squash shine through.

This dish is also relatively quick and easy to prepare.  To make it even more so, you can roast the squash in advance and whip up the soup right before you’d like to serve it.

And, just look at how pretty it is all dressed up with some crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds!

If you’re looking for an elegant, delicious and no-fuss dish for your Thanksgiving table this year, look no further.  This Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is for you!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

3 pounds butternut squash (about 2 medium squash), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
5 large whole sage leaves
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Crispy sage leaves or toasted pepitas for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

1.  Combine squash, olive oil, garam masala, ginger, salt and pepper in large bowl and mix until squash is well-coated.  Arrange squash in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes or until soft and tender.

2.  While squash is roasting, set a large pot over medium heat and melt the butter.  Add the onion, garlic and sage, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion just turns golden, about 6 to 7 minutes.  Remove the sage leaves and discard.  Add the stock and roasted squash to the soup pot and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

3.  Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor and return it to the pot. Stir in the cream and reheat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve garnished with crispy sage leaves and/or toasted pepitas.

Serves 8 as a first course.

Enjoy!

When most people think of Italian Wedding Soup, they understandably associate it with weddings.  Sounds logical, right?  Well, what if I told you that this popular Italian dish has nothing to do with weddings at all?  Yes, it’s true.  Before you scoff, let me explain.

The Italian name for this soup is Minestra Maritata, which literally translates into “married soup” in English. Therein lies the confusion.  Somewhere along the way, the incorrect assumption was made that this soup was created to be served at wedding feasts.  In fact, “married soup” actually refers to the harmonious marriage of flavors of the ingredients within the soup, and not the venue in which is it served.

Minestra Maritata is a traditional Neapolitan soup containing greens and meat in a clear broth.  It is an extremely old dish that is thought to be of Roman origin.  The original version of this soup was quite heavy, containing  lots of different meats and leafy green vegetables.  It was intended to be a hearty and filling meal.  The more modern and “Americanized” version is much lighter, replacing the boiled meats with little meatballs.  Some variations also include pasta. 

My version of Italian Wedding Soup is the one I grew up on.  This is the soup that both my grandmother and mother used to make on a regular basis.  It is made with a light chicken stock and includes pasta, spinach and the most fluffy, melt-in-your mouth mini-meatballs.  The airiness and lovely texture of these meatballs is due to two things.  First, I use ground veal to make them, instead of ground beef.  Second, I don’t fry or bake the meatballs before adding them to the soup.  Instead, I gently simmer them in the soup.  I also use panko crumbs instead of regular bread crumbs, which can sometimes make the meatballs a little dense and dry.

When time permits, I like to make a homemade chicken stock for my Minestra Maritata, but canned broth works just fine in a pinch.  You could also try the semi-homemade  stock I use in my “Quick, But it Tastes Like it Took All Day” Chicken Soup.

Minestra Maritata “my way” is a delightful and flavorful soup that would make a perfect first course at any meal.  You could even serve it at a wedding, if you wanted to.  But the nice thing is, you can enjoy it any time you want!

Minestra Maritata (Italian Wedding Soup)

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound finely ground pork (or chicken)
1 small onion, grated
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (more if needed)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Soup:

3 quarts homemade chicken stock, canned low-sodium chicken broth or a combination of the two
1 pound fresh baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (or one package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry)
1 batch of uncooked meatballs (see above)
1/2 pound cooked small pasta, such as acini di pepe or tubettini
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

To make the meatballs:

Gently mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Don’t overwork it. Using teaspoon-sized scoops, form the meat mixture into small balls about 3/4 of an inch in diameter.  Place on a baking sheet and set aside.

To make the soup:

Bring the stock or broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Carefully add the meatballs, one by one, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Do not stir the pot at this point or you’ll risk breaking up the meatballs! Simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 12-15 minutes.

Add the spinach and continue to simmer until wilted, about 2-3 minutes more.

Add the cooked pasta to the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top.

Yields 8 generous servings.

Enjoy!