Italian Meatball Soup with Tortellini and Kale

"Good manners: The noise you don't make when you're eating soup." 

~ Bennett Cerf, Humorist (1898-1971)

Here is one of my favorite soups.  I could eat it for days and not tire of it.  The light broth is just a perfect vehicle for heavier elements, like meatballs and tortellini (YUM!).  There are plenty of hearty Italian soup recipes that have tomatoes in them,  but what makes this soup interesting, is that it doesn't.  Once you have the meatballs done it comes together very quickly and doesn't require a long simmer, making it a nice workday choice.  I made it the other night as a light dinner so we could have Banana Cream Pie as a side dish, I mean...erm...dessert.

Do what I do, and next time you find yourself making meatballs for a spaghetti dinner, increase the recipe a bit (make sure you start with fresh, not previously frozen meat) and then roll 3/4 pound worth of smaller meatballs.  Bake them on a cookie sheet for a 20-30 mins (depending on size), cool, place in a Ziploc bag and throw them in the freezer.  Then, when you feel like making this soup, it's cake!  

Italian Meatball Soup with Tortellini and Kale

A recipe by The Irish Mother

Meatballs:

1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 slices white bread

1 small onion, peeled

3 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

12 ounces ground meat, either all beef, or a combination of beef, pork and veal.
garlic powder and onion powder (for dusting meatballs before baking)

Soup:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 small onions, peeled and diced

2 small carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks celery, preferably with leaves attached

1 clove garlic

6 cups chicken stock

1 cup fresh or frozen cheese tortellini

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 small zucchini

3 ounces chopped kale

1. For the meatballs: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mince the cheese, bread and onion in a food processor.  Add the milk, salt, egg and the meat.  Mix just until combined.  Roll into small meatballs.  Should make about 20.  Place meatballs on a cookie sheet and dust all over with garlic powder and onion powder.  Bake for 20 minutes.

2. For the soup:  Heat the olive oil to med-high in a large heavy stockpot.  Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook for 5 minutes, stirring so they don't burn.  Add garlic and stir for one minute, until fragrant.  Immediately add chicken stock, seasonings, zucchini and kale.  Taste broth and add salt and pepper, if needed.  Simmer 15 minutes.  Add meatballs and tortellini and simmer 15 minutes or until heated through.

This soup can be made up to 3 days in advance and reheated.  Add more chicken stock or water if needed.