My Sis is Hungry: Italian Meatball Soup

When cleaning out the (formerly known as 'black hole of doom') freezer, I came across half a bag of store-bought meatballs and figured I should make something to use them up (since I didn't even know they were in there I didn't want to put them back and forget them again!). Thought about meatball shepherds pie, or how about meatball chili - is meatball chili a thing cuz' I'm so going to make that in the future! I made Italian meatball soup instead, and as soup tends to do it just got bigger and bigger and made so much I had plenty to share. So since my sis hasn't had many meals from her sis lately I gave her some and this is her review (note: this started off with enough liquid to be called 'soup' but after it sat in the fridge overnight most of the liquid was absorbed so it turned into a very thick chunky hearty stew. Oh, and I also gave her some pull apart rolls that I experimented with after finding frozen dough balls in the freezer hahahah, I'll give you that recipe another time but she included a review for that too!): 

Meatball Stew?? Is that what this is called?? If not it should be. HAHAHA..

My sister said I could add water to make it meatball “soup” but I liked it thicker honestly.

This tasted kind of like Vegetable soup.  There was quite a lot of veggies in it.  and I do love meatballs.  Wasn’t sure about these meatballs though.. they were kind of “hard”.  Like not unedible hard but like firm.  Which in a stew I liked.  If was on my spaghetti I wouldn’t as a side note.  Oh but if my sister would like to make me some spaghetti with these meatballs I would be happy to try that to be sure. HAHA..

Anyway- this stew was good, pretty filling and I liked the mix of pasta, veggies and meat.  Made it much more of a main dish than I usually consider stew/soup to be.

 

Oh separate note- not sure if I was supposed to review the bread she sent but that was fantastic.  I could just eat it .. and eat it.. and eat it. 

Whatever is sprinkled on the top was GREAT.  My only negative comment is that they were in tiny little circles (all stuck together) so I had to break off a piece to eat it. That made me feel bad when I scarfed the first one and took a second.  Like I was eating a second roll.  In my defense the first one was tiny… 

Anyway.. the rolls were yum. 

I forgot to tell my sis to try parmesan on top - delish!

                                        

French Bean and Vegetable Soup

I got this recipe and photo from a friend, she got it from a "Best of Fine Cooking" magazine. True story and a good tip for the future - she was flying home from a trip at Christmas and couldn't fit all of the gifts she received in her suitcase. So she had the idea to buy a magazine at an airport store and asked them to put it in a very large bag - that way she had a bag to put her excess belongings in to carry onto the plane. I guess they don't count the gift shop bag as another carry on bag - at least she says they haven't stopped her so far. While I would have bought HGTV or fashion/gossip type magazine, she picked up a Fine Cooking and wanted to try this soup recipe. 

She gave me enough soup to have 2 meals (I had it both times for breakfast - yep I eat weird stuff for breakfast, especially if it's delicious leftovers!) and I liked it so much I asked if I could put it on the blog for you guys to try. Even though I didn't make it myself,  I know what a great cook she is and did get to taste it (that counts for something, right?)... I will definitely make this in the future.      

She made a couple changes - the recipe calls for dried flageolets (I had to look that up, it's a small french bean) soaked for hours, she used canned great northern beans instead so skipped the whole soaking part. Because of that she didn't have any reserved water from the beans so replaced it with white wine. She said "figured that couldn't hurt" haha. She also didn't add sherry vinegar and used less of the sausage. Since I haven't made it yet I don't know if I would make any additional changes, but looking at the recipe I can suggest that if you don't have whole cloves of garlic, fresh thyme, or fresh chives I bet it would be fine with dried herbs. I might sprinkle in garlic powder or salt if I felt like it. You could also use a different sausage than andouille, I thought it was crumbled Italian sausage when I ate it - or you could make this vegetarian and leave the meat out entirely. This is a yummy bean and veggie soup with little bits of sausage. Don't be overwhelmed at the long ingredient lists - it's pretty much things you probably have on hand and if not just throw in what you do have! The beauty of making soup...

1 1/4 cups (8oz) dried flageolets, sorted and rinsed
1 medium clove garlic, smashed and peeled
1 bay leaf
kosher salt
2 T. extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter
1/4 lb. andouille sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3/4 cup chopped leek, cleaned
3/4 cup chopped shallot
freshly ground black pepper
1 T. tomato paste
1 1/2 t. minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 t. chopped fresh thyme
3/4 t. dried herbs de Provence
1 cup sliced carrots (1/4" thick half-moons)
1 cup canned, drained, diced tomatoes (reserve the juice)
1 cup coarsely chopped swiss chard
5 to 6 cups chicken broth
1 to 2 t. sherry vinegar
1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh chives

Put the beans in a large bowl, add enough cold water to cover by 3 inches, and soak for 4 to 12 hours.

Drain and rinse the beans and transfer them to a 3 or 4 quart saucepan. Add the smashed garlic, bay leaf, and 6 cups cold water. Partially cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally and adding 3/4 t. salt after 30 minutes, until the beans are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour total. If at any time the liquid doesn't cover the beans, add 1 cup water. Drain the beans, reserving the liquid. Discard the bay leaf (the garlic clove can stay).

Heat the olive oil or butter in a 4 to 5 quart soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook stirring often, until beginning to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Pour the sausage and fat into a small strainer set over a bowl, and set it aside. Spoon 2 T. of the fat back into the pot and return it to medium heat. Add the leek and shallot and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook stirring frequently, until the begin to soften, 4 to 6 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, minced garlic, thyme, and herbs de Provence, and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more.

Add the carrots, tomatoes, and swiss chard, stirring to incorporate with the seasonings. Add 2 cups of the broth, partially cover, and simmer until the vegetables are just barely tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

In a large measuring cup, combine the reserved juice from the canned tomatoes, 1 cup of the reserved bean cooking liquid, and enough broth to bring the amount of liquid to 4 cups.

Add the liquid, beans, and andouille to the pot and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes to meld the flavors.

Season to taste with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serve garnished with the chives.

This warm and comforting soup is perfect for a chilly evening. Serve it with crusty bread drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. Serves 6.