Italian Wedding Soup..

I don't follow any "written" recipe.

This is my version of Italian Wedding Soup.

Start by making your meatballs.

Again, use your favorite meatball recipe.

I mixed together ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, salt and pepper

 with a little bit of water.

Only you want to form them into tiny meatballs.

Here's what I started with this morning.

I didn't count but it's a lot!

Don't worry, they all don't go in the soup!

I like to plan ahead.

This amount will make enough tiny meatballs 

for about 4 recipes of soup.

Brown them in a little bit of oil.

Transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towel to drain.

If you're making a lot, you'll want to do this in batches. 

Fill a pot with two containers of chicken broth.

Add chopped carrots, celery and your meatballs to the broth.

I added about 20 meatballs to this recipe.  

Add some frozen spinach, about a third of the package.

BUT please don't tell my children it's spinach, okay?

They think it's just parsley.

You can also add fresh spinach but then my kids wouldn't 

believe it was parsley.  

So for now, I add frozen spinach.  

I let the soup cook for about an hour or so until the meatballs

 are cooked through and the carrots and celery are tender.

About 20 minutes before you're ready to serve the soup,

 cook some pasta to add to your soup

in a separate pot of boiling water.

When the pasta is done, drain and add to the soup.

I used these tiny little "bow ties."

In the past I've added cheese tortellini, DELICIOUS!

Here's the soup, all done.

Doesn't that look GOOD?

Top your bowl of soup with some fresh Parmesan cheese.

So...

What did I do with the rest of the meatballs?

I divided them into three different piles,

wrapped in aluminum foil, placed in a freezer bag.

Now the next time I want to make Italian Wedding Soup, 

I just go to my freezer, take a package of mini meatballs out and start the soup.

Let me know if you make the soup!

ENJOY!

Potato Soup

Last week my sister and her family came for a visit.

I made two different soups, 

Potato Soup and Italian Wedding Soup.

Both were delicious!

The complete recipe for the soup is at the end of this post.

I need to point out that I do not add the onions or the butter to the soup.

The bacon, chives and sour cream are for garnishes.  

AND I now use fat free half/half.  

Not the heavy cream or the regular half/half as in the picture. 

This makes the soup not as fattening. 

Potatoes and Chicken Broth...

Peel and dice your potatoes and add them to a nice size pot...

Cover with the chicken broth and bring to a boil...

Continue to cook until the potatoes are fork tender...

While still in the pot, mash the potatoes with a potato masher.

You don't want this soup too smooth...

Add one cup cheddar cheese and one cup half and half...

Adding the cheese...

Continue to cook until the soup is thick and your house smells like heaven.

If the soup is NOT thickening, 

you MAY need to thicken the soup with a flour/water mixture, as if

you're making a gravy.  Add the flour/water mixture to the boiling soup.

I do not use cornstarch as a thickener.  

I only need to do this when I use the fat free half/half.

  

Ready to serve with a nice topping of bacon, chives, 

cheddar cheese and sour cream!

YUM!

Potato Soup:

6 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 large onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

3- 14 oz cans chicken broth
1/4 c butter
2 1/2 t salt
1 1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1 c whipping cream or half and half
1 c shredded SHARP Cheddar cheese
3 T chopped fresh chives (for garnish)
Sour cream (for garnish)
4 bacon slices cooked and crumbled (for garnish or you can add directly to the soup)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (for garnish)

1.  Combine first 6 ingredients in a 5 qt. slow cooker.
2.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours or on low 8 hours or until potatoes are tender.
3.  Mash mixture until potatoes are coarsely chopped and soup is slightly thickened; stir in cream and cheese.   

4.  Top with sour cream and sprinkle with bacon, chives and Cheddar cheese before serving.