Easy Does It

After a week like last week (oh and let me tell you, my kitchen woes continued on through the weekend!) I decided to fill my menu this week with some of our old favorites. Hopefully I'll have better luck.

I did try a new recipe Monday night with some success. The original is simply called "Chicken Noodle Soup" but in this week's menu I renamed it "Tortellini Soup with Chicken Meatballs" -- a more descriptive title for a lovely little soup. If you're tired of your same ol' chicken noodle soup, give this one a try. I made mine a bit different for the following reasons: 1) I didn't need 8 servings of soup 2) I didn't have fresh thyme or fresh parsley on hand, and 3) I couldn't find chicken sausage links so I just used regular chicken sausage, country style.


Our verdict: Mr. DoM and DoM Jr. loved this soup. I loved the flavor, but next time I'll make the meatballs smaller. This time I made them with a 1tsp scoop, but I think I would prefer a 1/2 tsp size meatball.


Here's what I made:


Tortellini Soup with Chicken Meatballs
4 servings

meatballs:
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 lb chicken sausage (do not get the maple kind - apple sausage, or country style ok)
2 Tbls grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 of a whisked egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

soup:
olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large or 2 medium carrots, chopped
1/2 cup diced onion
1 rib celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp dried thyme
6-7 cups chicken broth (FYI: 1 can of broth = not quite 2 c.)
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/2 of a package of cheese tortellini (I used Buitoni)
salt & pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

For meatballs: In a large skillet, saute onions in olive oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine sausage, egg, onion, thyme, parsley and Parmesan. Mix gently with your hands (if you smoosh the meat too much, you'll have tough, compact meatballs). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat the same skillet to medium-high heat and add a little more oil. Use a small ice cream scoop to make meatballs and drop them into the skillet. Cook meatballs until browned on all side. Remove from heat and set aside.

For soup: In a medium pot (mine is a 5.5 qt), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bay leaf and thyme. Saute 5-7 minutes until fragrant. Add chicken broth and parsley. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Add meatballs and tortellini. Simmer until meatballs are cooked through and tortellini is done, about 5-7 minutes.

Serve. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.