Italian Wedding Soup

1 lb ground chicken
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 large onion
1 bell pepper
1 carrot
3-5 zucchini and/or yellow squash
1 can Cannellini beans
2 boxes chicken broth
Star pasta

This is one of my favorite dishes in the world. I mean, look how good it looks:



It takes a bit longer to make than the typical weeknight meal that I make, but it is so good.

I normally make a big batch and then left overs all week. I even serve left overs of this if I have company.

The vegetables in this soup I vary with the seasons. In the winter, I add traditional dark greens to the soup (escarole or spinach) and in the summer, I like the squash.

First things first. The timing of this soup is important - that is there will be a step where you need to add the veggies quickly to the pot. So I do all my chopping of veggies up front.

Dice the onion and bell pepper and carrot rather small but leave the squash in large chunks.

Now for the meatballs. Two keys to making delicious chicken meatballs for this soup. First, make sure all the balls are about the same size. Second make sure the balls are all very very small. You want small meatballs for this soup.

Here's how I accomplish this:

First I cover my counter in parchment paper so I have a flat surface to work on that I don't have to worry about cleaning chicken goop off of later. Also, I take the rings off my fingers so they don't get chicken in them.

I pour out the breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper into a little pile on the center of the paper.

Then I plop the ground chicken onto the pile of spices and with my clean hands, I mix the chicken into the dry ingredients. I use the wet chicken to pick up any stray dry ingredients. I mix until everything is one consistency - that is, until I have no clumps of chicken without any of the dry mixture.

Next, I form the meat into one giant ball. I divide the giant ball into four quadrants of equal size. Then I take each quadrant and subdivide it into smaller pieces until I have several balls of equal size.

They will be more like blobs of meat at this point - not super meatball shaped yet.

I repeat this with the other quadrants until I've used up all of the giant ball.

Then I divided each meatball into two because I realized I had made them too large.

You want one meatball to fit easily on a spoon with room for veggies and pasta.

After I got the meatballs to the right size, I rolled each ball in my palms - like with play dough - to make them more round and meatball-like.

The next step is to heat a wide pot with oil. You want as much real-estate on the bottom of the pot as possible so you won't have to make too many batches of meatballs. As it is, this recipe will make at least two batches. I find that if I try to squeeze them all into one batch, they stick together and some of them burn before I can get them all turned.

Using tongs, set about half of the meatballs in the hot oil.

Watch the meatballs. When the first ones you put into the pot start to turn white on the bottom, you are getting close. When the white reaches nearly the middle of the meatball, it's time to flip it over.

Using the tongs, flip each meatball to cook the other side. Because these have cheese in them, they might stick to the pot a little. Normally, meat will "tell you it's ready" by being easy to lift out of the pan when it is browned on one side. But these will probably stick a bit as the cheese is melting to the pan. Just be forceful and they will come up.

When they start to turn white on the other side, you can take them out. Don't worry if some of them haven't cooked all the way through - you will be boiling them in the soup and they can finish cooking then.

Using tongs, set the meatballs on a large plate covered in a paper towel to collect any access oil.

The pan will be empty and can get overheated very easily, so quickly add in the chopped "hard" veggies - that is the onion, the bell pepper and the carrot.

Add salt and pepper and stir.

The squash can be set aside for later - it needs less cooking time.

After a few minutes, add the squash. Season and stir.

Next, add the chicken meatballs and the beans. Be sure to drain the liquid off the beans before you add them to the pot.

Season and stir.

Cover the ingredients with chicken broth. This batch took 1 1/4 boxes of broth to cover up. If you run out of broth, just add water.

Cover the pot and bring it up to a boil. While it is heating up, grate 2-3 cloves of garlic. I use a microplane so that the garlic turns into almost a paste. This way it almost melts into the pot.

Add the garlic to the pot. Stir and then let it boil for at least 20 minutes. I had mine on for almost an hour before serving.

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Now for the star pasta. 

Star pasta can be hard to find in the store. My HEB keeps it in the Italian imported foods section and not with the other pastas. It's worth an extra look or two to find, as it makes for a delicious addition. 

I've found that if I make a large batch of this soup and then heat it up over the week, the pasta gets mushy. So I take a ladle and remove some of the soup from the main pot and fill up a smaller put which I cook the pasta in. 

I store the pasta separately in the fridge so it doesn't get mushy. 

I serve the soup with a little scoop of the pasta, two scoops of the soup and then sprinkled with parmesan cheese. 

Now doesn't that look delicious?? 

Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1/2 large onion

1/2 bell pepper

cilantro

1 serrano pepper

1 large or 2 small tomatoes

1 can of mexi-corn (corn with bell peppers)

1 - 2 chicken breasts (cooked) - omit this and add beans if you want to make this vegetarian. 

Tortilla soup spice mix

Water

Shredded cheese (I like manchego)

1/2 lime

crushed tortilla chips

I love this for the end of the week when I need to use up left-over ingredients. Super fast and delicious. Be careful how much of the seasoning package you use, as it is very high in sodium. I use about half of the recommended amount. 

In a large pot, heat oil. Add onion and bell pepper. 

Chop the tomatoes. I use a serrated knife for this. Add tomatoes to the pot. 

Carefully remove seeds from serrano pepper. I enjoy this soup as flavorful and a little spicy. If you can't handle the spice, omit the serrano all together. If you are insane about spice, leave the seeds in - at your own risk. 

Some people wear laytex gloves while dealing with the pepper. I wash my hands immediately after handling it. Whatever you do, don't deal with the pepper and then touch your eyes. You'll be sorry. 

Chop the pepper.

Add the pepper and cilantro to the pot. 

Stir and then add the can of corn. 

Slice the chicken breasts into long strips. Add to the pot. 

Add the seasoning to the pot. You don't need to add all of it to make it flavorful. Be sure to check out how much sodium is in your seasoning. 

Stir. 

Add water to cover the ingeridents. 

Cover with a lid and let it boil for 15 minutes. 

In the bowls you will serve the soup in, add shredded cheese to the bottom of the bowl. This way, when the hot soup is added, the cheese will melt and be a delicious surprise at the bottom. 

Ladle the soup into the bowls. Squeeze lime juice on top and then add the crushed tortilla chips. 

Enjoy! 

Creamy Corn Soup

2 slices of pancetta or bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 bag of frozen corn
1 yellow squash, chopped
2 Tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk or cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
Italian Parsley, chopped
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes


In a large pot, heat olive oil on high and add pancetta or bacon. Brown.

Dice onion and add to pot after the pancetta is browned.

Chop carrot and add. Stir often as you chop the veggies.

Cut the red pepper in half and scoop out the seeds. Chop.

Chop zucchini and squash. Add to pot.

Add salt, pepper, paprika and red pepper flakes.



Sprinkle flour over the veggies.



Stir to coat the veggies in the flour.



Add the bag of frozen corn. Stir.



Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Scrape the bits off the bottom with the spoon.



Boil for a few minutes then turn the heat down to low. Add the milk.



Grate the garlic, add to the pot.



Shave some parsley off of the bunch and chop. Add the parsley to the pot. Stir.





Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.



When the soup is done, taste it to determine if you need more salt or pepper.

Serve with crushed Hatch Chili chips on top.