Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound beef, pork, and veal combined
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 cloves garlic,minced
- 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-Reggiano
- cheese
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or
- ground
- 6 cups chicken stock (canned or
- homemade)(see my other recipe card
- for the homemade stock)
- 2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups dried pasta, I used ditalini
- 1 pound triple washed fresh spinach,
- coarsely chopped.
Preparation
Step 1
In a deep pot over medium heat, add oil, chopped carrots, celry, onions and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper,and nutmeg. Uncover your soup pot add broth and water to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring soup to a boil.
When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture into small balls. Drop them straight into the pot. At this point you can add your pasta to cook, BUT I recommend NOT! I recommend cooking pasta fresh to add as you serve:)
Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes.
Stir in your chopped spinach in batches. When spinach has wilted, it's done. Adjust seasonings. I like to sprinkle grated cheese on top of each bowl. Again, I add my pasta fresh to each bowl, I find it absorbs too much broth otherwise.