So apparently we skipped Fall entirely in Calgary and we’ve now morphed straight in to Winter. I’m not happy about it and I really haven’t had a chance to sport my fall wardrobe yet so the only thing I can do to make myself happy is to make a big pot of Sunday Soup!

I was really really lucky to get to partner with the Le Creuset team and I had the opportunity to host a cooking demo in their store. Since the weather had turned cold, all I could think of was making a soup to showcase their beautiful cookware and as I was discussing this with friends at least 2 of them said ‘why don’t you make an Italian Wedding Soup?’ So of course, I had to go for it because they were right, this is an amazing soup and everyone loves it!

What makes this soup truly outstanding is the beautiful little meatballs! You can really taste the difference in the broth with these little flavour bombs shining through. People also know how much love went in to this because homemade meatballs basically reach out and hug someone. The key in this soup is to make them mini. This way you get more in the soup (or every spoonful) and if you are serving this to tiny humans, they love having little bite sized foods made just for them.

Get all of your ingredients ready for your meatballs, breadcrumbs, seasonings, egg, ground beef and wait for it….sausage meat! That’s right people, I just take the sausage meat out of the casing and grind it up with the ground beef.

Once the meat mixture is completely mixed, roll in to tiny balls. When ready you can either bake in the oven at 375 for 10-12 minutes or fry up to brown the outside in a skillet.

Next heat up a little bit of Olive Oil in a large pot. Once hot, add chopped onion, carrots and celery. Stir around and let the onions sweat it out a bit. Add chopped garlic and mix.

Next, add your chicken broth. Add a cup of acini de Pepe (small round ball semolina pasta) and the meatballs in with the veggies. Stir the mixture completely and then bring the temperature up to a soft boil, stirring occasionally. Add in a bit of grated Parmesan cheese and stir letting it slightly simmer. The cheese will add a richness that I can’t even describe.

Let the soup cook for 1 hour and the flavours will be amazing together. A few minutes before you are ready to serve, add in a few cups of chopped fresh spinach. The spinach will cook in a few minutes. *I have used kale on occasion and it works as well. The only thing is that you will have to the let the kale cook a bit longer than spinach.

Add Salt and Pepper to taste.

Hope you enjoy this beautiful soup! It’s hearty, cozy and absolutely delicious. True comfort food on a chilly day.

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 lbs of ground beef
• 4 Pork Sausage links removed from casing (I used a tomato onion Jaime Oliver brand)
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp oregano
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Soup

• 3 Carrots diced
• 3 Stalks Celery diced
• 1 onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 8 cups of chicken broth (about 2 tetra packs)
• 1 cup acini de Pepe or Israeli Couscous
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of chopped spinach
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients to make the meat balls and mix thoroughly.
2. Shape meat balls in to mini sized meatballs
3. Brown the outside of the meatballs (don’t worry they will cook in the soup so if they are not entirely cooked on the inside, they will get there once they get added to the broth)
4. Heat up a large soup/stock pot with 1 tbsp olive oil
5. Add onion, carrots and celery to the oil and stir fry until the onions sweat. 3-5 min
6. Add garlic and let cook for 30 seconds
7. Add chicken broth, Acini de Pepe pasta & meatballs and let come to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom.
8. Add parmesan cheese
9. Reduce the pot to medium low and let simmer away for 1 hour to let all of the flavours mix together.
10. Add chopped spinach a few minutes before you want to serve.
11. Add Salt and Pepper to taste.