Meatball Tortellini Soup

By charlotteh371

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced white onion (separated in halves)
• 8 cups chicken stock/broth
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup seasoned panko bread crumbs
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 10-12 ounces tortellini
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped into large pieces
• additional salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery and 1/2 cup diced onion and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
While the stock is warming, make your meatballs. In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork, egg, bread crumbs, garlic and nutmeg, kosher salt and pepper until well mixed. Form mixture into 16 meatballs of equal size. When the stock comes to a boil, drop the meatballs into the pot. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, drop in the tortellini and cook according to package directions (4-5 minutes usually.) Then add the spinach and Italian seasoning, stir and adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.