Chicken Soup with Mini Meatballs

This recipe comes from FamilyFun.com. If you want to print it neatly go to the link at the bottom of the post. The website won't have freezing instructions though, I added those.

I almost didn't make this recipe because I thought that making little meatballs by hand might just exceed my work threshold, even on a productive day. However, after seeing a few of the options I was considering, hubs decided that this was the one he HAD to try (he was actually much less dramatic than that). And it just so happened I had purchased ground turkey the day before, so I was pretty much committed. It turned out to be simpler than I expected, and I even had the great privilege of making the meatballs TWICE because the first time I forget to add the onion. Splendid. Anyway, it turned out great and my mini meatballs held up beautifully, even when I plunged them into boiling chicken stock (sorry little guys!).

Photo from FamilyFun.com

Chicken Soup with Mini Meatballs

INSTRUCTIONS

• 3/4 pound ground turkey
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup finely minced onion
• 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs (I dried out a slice of bread and put it in the blender because I thought breadcrumbs seemed like a dumb thing to spend money on...)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 cup orzo or pastina (I used orzo since I'd never heard of pastina)
• 1 (10-oz) package fresh spinach, washed, trimmed, and torn into bite-sized pieces (bagged salad is WAY too expensive for my liking so I just ripped the head of a regular bunch)

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, water, egg, onion, bread crumbs, cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls*. In a large pot, combine the broth and carrots and bring them to a simmer. Add the orzo and let it cook for 5 minutes (it takes 2 minutes for pastina), stirring frequently. Add the meatballs and simmer them in the broth for 10 minutes. Stir in the spinach and simmer until it's wilted, about 1 minute.

*I would get the other stuff going and then start forming the meatballs just so you can toss them right in when they're done instead of waiting for the orzo to cook. Much more efficient.

TO FREEZE

Cool and divide into labeled freezer bags and freeze. On serving day thaw and simmer on stovetop until meatballs are heated through.

Printable version of Chicken Soup with Mini Meatballs on FamilyFun.com.