I have made this many different ways and the other night experimented with this recipe by adding fire-roasted diced tomatoes and it was ever so delicious. Feel free to use regular diced tomatoes but the fire roasted ones gave it an extra layer of flavor that was truly delicious. I made this on the stove top and even though it’s ready in an hour I let it sit for a while on a very low flame ( more like 2 hours or more) the flavors meld best this way. This can be frozen but I freeze without the pasta , I like to add my pasta separately to the soup. It’s vegan if you don’t top with parmesan cheese and this recipe should yield at least 6 bowls of soup if not a little more. It’s a delicious vegetarian hearty warm soup that happens to be very healthy and delicious. One of my favorites.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 medium yellow onion , chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 medium ribs celery, chopped

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 cups chopped seasonal vegetables, Potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, green beans or peas will all work here

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 large can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes with their liquid, or 2 small cans –I used fire roasted diced tomatoes and they were ever so delicious

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 teaspoon or more to taste of kosher salt

2 bay leaves

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup small pasta — like ditalini or elbows or small shells

1 can ( 15 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained, or any beans 1 1/2 cups

2 cups chopped kale or baby spinach —

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, for garnishing

Warm 3 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch Oven over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste, minced garlic, and a little bit of kosher salt. Cook , stirring often until the vegetables soften and the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Don’t burn.

Add the seasonal vegetables you’re using and oregano and thyme, cook until fragrant while stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.

Pour in the diced tomatoes and their juices, broth and water. Add some salt now , bay leaves and a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like. And add black pepper.

Raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then partially cover the pot leaving a small gap for steam to escape. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer — I honestly let it simmer for up to 2 hours.

I cook my pasta in a separate small pan and set aside.

I add the beans and you can add the greens now if you like and continue simmering uncovered now, probably another 20 minutes or so till greens are tender. If you want a more classic soup omit the kale /spinach but I love it so I add it to mine —

Remove the bay leaves from the pot, taste for salt and pepper. Put some pasta into bottom of each bowl ( doesn’t matter if it’s cold because soup will heat it right up) Garnish bowls with cheese if you like or put on table for everyone to add their own.

Perfection in a bowl and may be frozen for up to 3 months — it’s better to freeze without the pasta and you’ll probably add some vegetable broth or water to it when it defrosts.

I made these delicious meatballs last Sunday night and they are from my Italian Wedding Soup. I served with my Sunday Night Sauce ( Marinara) and Spaghetti. These are delicious, moist meatballs that I bake in the oven. I don’t fry these . I highly recommend these for pasta and of course in soup!

Perfect Meatballs and Spaghetti but made with Chicken and Sausage . If you can find Chicken Sausage use it and if you can find ground chicken made with dark meat I would recommend using that. I couldn’t find dark meat ground chicken so used what I could find and I used Hot Spicy Pork Sausage because I couldn’t find Chicken Sausage here in Colorado.

This is how I make my Chicken Meatballs. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground chicken — I prefer ground chicken to ground turkey but you can use it as well. Again if you can get ground dark meat chicken use that.

1/2 lb. Chicken Sausage, or Pork Sausage and you can use Sweet or Hot

3 slices Bread for Bread Crumbs — using the food processor I remove crusts and using steel blade make crumbs — app. 1 cup you can use whole wheat bread or white bread — whatever you have in the house — of course you can use regular Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs but I find the bread crumbs that you buy are a little dryer than the fresh bread crumbs.

2 -3 Garlic Cloves – minced app. 2 teaspoons

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

3 Tablespoons Milk — I have 2% and it’s fine so whatever you have in the house

1 Egg – lightly beaten

1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ( coarse black pepper)

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

I use Silicone liners for baking sheet but if you don’t own these absolutely fantastic Silpat liners use parchment paper or just use cooking spray, or parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Place all ingredients for meatballs in a large bowl and mix till just mixed with a fork or your “clean” hands. I use a teaspoon and make 1- 11/2″ balls. Don’t over mix and when you make the balls don’t pack super tight. Just loosely roll balls with wet hands. Place onto cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside and add to your Sunday Night Sauce or whatever sauce you’re making and place in sauce before you’re ready to eat and heat through.

That’s it! Enjoy!