Meatball Soup and First Snow!

There's something so sweet about the first snow. The white-washed air, the pristine look, the blanket of white beneath a deep blue sky...

That disappears in February when I'm chomping at the bit, waiting for spring, longing for flowers, begging leaves to return because by then I am just so totally over grays/whites/mud/browns. Like totally, irrevocably over it.

But for now, it's lovely!

And because I was gone last week doing research in the Blue Ridge, I knew I had to cook at least a couple of times this week. To smooth those ruffled feathers. :)

This was a rendition of Italian Wedding Soup but with some fun twists...

I used chicken base and bruschetta mixed seasoning... I made two dozen little meatballs! And I used cheese tortellini, but I also broke up two chicken breasts into the broth and they added that little something extra.

I kind of winged the recipe, but this gives you a really wonderful taste combination:

Meatball Soup

2 quarts water
2 tablespoons chicken base
2 tablespoons Bruschetta seasoning mix (or use a combo of basil, parsley, oregano, garlic and pepper)
2 chicken breasts
2 dozen meatballs
1 small bag Tortellini

Bring the water, chicken base, seasonings and chicken breasts to a boil. Let simmer until chicken is done, about one hour or more. Remove chicken. Test broth... I added more garlic here, and I could have gone with a can of diced tomatoes, but decided to leave that out. I shredded the chicken with two forks and then added that back to the broth. Broth has reduced to about 1.5 quarts.

Make meatballs: (you can buy them, but I had a package of Ground Round in the freezer, not too big, perfect for these littler meatballs)

1 lb. ground round
1 egg

1 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Once you've mixed this all up, form small meatballs and saute them in olive oil in a large frying pan. You can bake them in the oven, too, but I think that dries them out somewhat.

Once fully cooked, add the meatballs to the broth. Add the tortellini five minutes before serving.

I heated up some Sister Shubert's rolls (thank you, Missy, for teaching me how good these are!) and they went perfectly with this amazing soup that was more like a meal in a dish.

Absolutely delicious and a crowd-pleaser, to boot!

There is something about snow and wind and the words "accumulation" and "lake effect" that put us in mind of warm, cozy food, right? And this was about as cozy as it gets.

Perfect to welcome that first snow!

Award-winning inspirational author Ruth Logan Herne loves God. He is totally her bestie, and she loves writing stories that reflect His love and devotion to the kind of interesting humans he's created! You can hang out with Ruthy and these other lovely authors over here, or visit us in Seekerville (seekerville.blogspot.com) or visit our websites and/or follow us on facebook.