Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Turkey Meatball Soup

Here's another cheap dinner largely from the pantry. My son pronounced this a winner after slurping down two bowls!

I've been working a lot with ground turkey lately; it is an affordable, healthy, and versatile protein. I would have liked to add some chopped fresh parsley to the meatballs, but I didn't have any on hand. You could use any combination of vegetables for this soup--celery, spinach, zucchini would all be good.



Turkey Meatball Soup

1 slice bread
1/2 cup milk
1 lb ground turkey
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 leek
1 onion
2 carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 1/2 cups green beans

Cut the bread into small cubes and place in a saucer with the milk. In a medium bowl, combine the ground turkey, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Squeeze most of the milk out of the soaked bread, and crumble the bread into the meat mixute. Combine well. Form into 3/4-inch meatballs and set aside. Prepare the vegetables. Slice the white part of the leek in half lengthwise and clean well under running water. Quarter and dice the leek. Peel the carrot and cut into small dice. Chop the onion and cut the green beans into 1/2-inch pieces. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot, and saute the leek, onion, and carrots for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the meatballs to the soup; simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add the pasta and the green beans and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the pasta is done. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese for a garnish.

No comments: