Healthy Italian Wedding Soup

Total time: 1 hr 15 minPrep: 30 min
Cook: 45 min

Yield: 8 servings
Level: Easy

Ingredients

For the meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds of ground meat (turkey/beef/chicken)
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup red quinoa
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed
1 lemon

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground meat, bread crumbs, garlic, basil, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, dash of salt, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don’t have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the quinoa to the simmering broth and cook for 10 minutes, until the quinoa spiralizes. Add 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan and a squirt of lemon juice.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten.