Italian Wedding Soup

I’m amazed by how many people haven’t heard of this soup.  Wha-a-at??  Crazy talk, people!  Crazy talk!  This is one those throw-together feel-good soups (think chicken noodle) that can be made ultra-quickly and is uber-easy.  (Is that enough hyphens for you?  Good.)  My original recipe comes from Penzeys Girl’s mom.  (She also introduced me to stuffed peppers–that woman needs to write her own cookbook.)  I’ve tinkered a bit, using things I usually have on hand but like I said, its a throw-together soup.  Play with it; make it yours.

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 cup sliced baby carrots
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 8 cups fat-free chicken broth (or a mix of broth and water if you don’t want it too salty)
• 1/2 cup dry orzo
• 4 oz. fresh spinach, sliced
• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I used ground turkey for the soup in the picture)
• 1/4 cup Eggbeaters
• 3 Tbs. dry seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 2 Tbs. finely diced onion

In large soup pot, saute onion, celery, carrots and garlic in olive oil.  When the onion becomes translucent and the carrots begins to soften, stir in the parsley.  Cook until fragrant, about one minute, then add broth.  Stir in orzo and spinach.  To make the meatballs, combine the last five ingredients and roll into marble sized balls.  Bring soup to a rapid boil and drop in the meatballs.  Gently stir (those meatballs tend to be wallflowers!) for a couple minutes, then reduce heat to medium.  Continue to cook until meatballs are done, about 15 minutes. 

Serves: 10  WWP: 3