Week 5 of 52 in 2010...

Week 5 of 52 in 2010

Spaghetti and Meatball Stoup

Rachael Ray

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped into a small dice
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
• 2 small ribs celery from the heart, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 cups tomato sauce or 1 (14-ounce) can plus 1 (8-ounce) can
• 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken stock, available in a box on the soup aisle
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup grated cheese, Italian blend cheese mix, plus more to pass at table
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, a few handfuls
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves for meatballs and 2 tablespoons for soup
• 1 tablespoon of oregano
• 2 teaspoons of basils
• 1/2 pound spaghetti, broken in half
• 1 loaf Italian crusty bread, for dunking

Directions

Preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, carrots, onions, celery, garlic and saute 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, fire roasted tomatoes, add parsley/oregano/basil, and stock and cover pot. Turn up heat and bring to a fast boil.

While soup comes to a boil, mix the ground meat with cheese, bread crumbs, egg and parsley. Roll into 1 1/2 to 2-inch balls.

Remove lid from soup and slide balls into soup. Bring back to a boil then stir in spaghetti. Reduce the heat and simmer soup 10 minutes more, until pasta is tender and balls have cooked through. Remove "stoup" from the stove. Serve soup with bread and cheese.

I was able to save a container of this for later. I was curious to see how the noodles would hold up...since I'm late posting this recipe we pulled it out of the freezer 3 weeks later and it was fabulous! I added a fresh can of fire roasted tomatoes (which I do anytime I defrost something with diced tomatoes in it...they have a tendency to break down and it helps stretch your meals to save you money!) and let it simmer on the stove while I toasted up some garlic toast. Honestly, I think I liked it better the second go round!

*This version contains my adjustments for the original click on the link in the title...