Meatball Soup

This is comfort food in a bowl! Serve it with my warm gooey grilled cheese sandwiches or garden salad.

Notes:
When I first started making this years ago - I used frozen store bought meatballs. You can do that if you don't feel like making the meatballs but homemade really are better.  I never add pasta to the pot of soup so that any leftover soup freezes better.

Italian Meatball Soup:

For the soup:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 carrot - peeled and chopped into a small dice
1 medium onion - chopped into small dice
1 1/2  ribs of celery - chopped into small dice
3 cloves garlic - chopped
2 - 28 oz cans of tomato sauce
1 big box (32 oz) + 3 cups Beef Broth
1/4  pound ground beef/meatball mix - cooked and crumbled
Dried basil, oregano, parsley to taste
Farfalle (bowtie) or small pasta of choice - cooked and drained
fresh basil - torn or shredded
shredded parmesan

For the meatballs:

• 1 pound meatball mix if you can find it. If not - 80% lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup regular plain bread crumbs 
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel

Directions:

1. Make the Meatballs:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the meatball mix or ground beef, ricotta, eggs, bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes, and fennel in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.

With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

2. Make the Soup

Preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, carrots, onions, celery and garlic and saute 5-7 minutes until vegetables soften. Add tomato sauce, beef broth and dried seasonings and bring to boil. Reduce heat and add cooked & crumbled ground beef and meatballs and simmer for about 10 minutes. 

3. To serve:

Place pasta of choice in bottom of each bowl. Add meatball soup over pasta. Top with shredded basil and sprinkling of parmesan.