Italian Meatball Minestrone Soup with White Bean
By PineyCook
Ingredients
- Meatball Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef (85/15 ratio)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (about a 2 ounce French roll, processed in food processor)
- 2 small garlic cloves (or 1 large), pressed through garlic press
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Soup Ingredients:
- Olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 large zucchini, diced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch salt
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 3 large cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
- 1 (3 ounce) can tomato paste
- 5 cups beef stock, hot
- 1 (15 ounce) can navy beans (or other small white beans), drained and rinsed
- Parmesan rind chunk (optional)
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil
- 1 1/2 cups cooked ditalini pasta (or small elbow pasta)
- Grated parmesan, for garnish
Details
Adapted from thecozyapron.com
Preparation
Step 1
-Prepare your meatballs by adding the ground beef to a large bowl; to the beef add all of the rest of the meatball ingredients, and using your hands, mix the mixture until well combined.
-Portion out about ½ ounce meatballs, and roll; chill meatballs for about 15 minutes.
-Once the meatballs have chilled, place a large soup pot over medium-high heat, and drizzle in about 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil; once the oil is hot, add in about half of the meatballs, and brown them on all sides for about 2 minutes; using a slotted spoon, remove the browned meatballs and then repeat with the remaining meatballs; set all of the browned meatballs aside for a moment.
-Into that same pot drizzle in a bit more oil if needed, and add in the onion, carrots, and celery, and saute those for about 3-4 minutes, or until they start to become slightly tender.
-Add in the zucchini, along with the Italian seasoning, dry oregano, black pepper, pinch of salt, red pepper flakes, and garlic, and stir to combine.
-Once the garlic becomes aromatic, add in the tomato paste, and cook that for about 30-45 seconds, just to cook out the raw flavor.
-Next, add back into the pot the browned meatballs, along with the white beans and the beef stock, and stir to combine; add in the parmesan rind chunk (if using), and cover the soup partially with a lid; bring the soup up to a rolling simmer, then reduce the heat to low and gently simmer the soup for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-After 25 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the parmesan rind, if using; add in the spinach leaves, parsley, and basil, and stir; check the seasoning to see if any additional salt/pepper if needed.
-To serve, add some of the cooked pasta to a bowl, and ladle the soup over top; garnish with grated parmesan, if desired.
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