Recipe for Meatball Minestrone

For year's I followed the forums at Gail's Recipe Swap.  After hanging out there for awhile, I learned that some recipes were site favorites; often the topics of various discussions or queries.  They became the legends of the regular posters.

I've made some of these recipes standards in our household.  Meatball Minestrone is one of them.  This is an absolutely fabulous soup.  And I can use three garden items that I've stored for the winter; carrots, tomatoes, and spinach. 

I don't take the time to form the meatballs any more.  I just mix the meatball ingredients in a bowl and then fry up this meat mixture.  It saves time.  Here's the recipe:

MEATBALL MINESTRONE

1 (10-oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1-1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup dry Italian-style breadcrumbs

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped coarsely

4 (14-1/2-oz.[or thereabouts]) cans beef broth

1 (1-lb.)can tomatoes

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 (1-lb.) can red kidney beans

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup sliced celery

1 cup rotelle pasta or elbow macaroni

With hands, squeeze as much moisture from spinach as possible.    In large bowl combine spinach, beef, crumbs, egg, salt and pepper. Shape into 1-inch balls. Bake on oiled cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 350: F. Drain and set aside.

In drippings from meatballs, sauté onions, stirring occasionally, until soft. Stir in broth, tomatoes (break up with a spoon) and their liquid, beans and their liquid, oregano and basil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add carrots and celery. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes. Stir in pasta. Cover and simmer until pasta is cooked al dente-- about 10 minutes. Place meatballs in soup and heat through. Makes about 14 1-cup servings.


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