I noticed on reviewer commented on how labor intensive it was to make the tiny meatballs. I saw a chef make them by shaping some of the meat into a "rope", cutting the rope into 3/4" segments, and then rolling a bunch of them at once with his hand pressing them against the counter. It was very clever and made quick work of it - hope this helps!
I replaced the onion with some garlic powder. I also browned the meatballs in a frying pan before putting them in the soup.. It added a great flavor to the meatballs and the soup
Delicious! I used 1 cup of bread crumbs in the meatballs. I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to the pot (that seems to get rid of the "canned broth" smell somehow). I've never made a recipe where meatballs weren't browned first, but I didn't pre-cook them. The soup wasn't greasy and the meatballs weren't too anemic loooking. I used my small cookie scoop for the meatballs and it was easy and quick! I used orzo pasta and precooked it and added it to the soup right at the end to avoid having it absorb all the broth. The best thing was that my husband was pretty sure he was not going to like this soup and after he tried it, he liked it a lot.
Yummy! I was initially skeptical because I though the broth might lack flavour. It was really good! I only had 1/2 chicken broth and the other half vegetable. Omitted the onion because I had none. Still delicious.
My tip is to drop the meatballs into the soup slowly, going around the pot so they don't all sit on top of each other. The meatballs will rise to the top as they cook. Once most of the meatballs have risen (about 4 minutes), then stir gently. Don't stir when you initially put the meatballs in.
Great recipe Lalena. Thanks so much!
Very Good! Everyone in the family loved this soup. I used 80% lean beef instead of the extra lean. I decided to bake the meatballs @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes on a broiler pan to drain some of the extra fat. I did double the breadcrumbs on the meatballs - a personal preference. I just dumped the meatballs into the soup mixture for the last 5 minutes of cooking. I doubled the pasta to make it a thicker soup and added a dash of garlic powder to the broth. When served with parmesean on top it was awesome.
We absolutely loved this! I added a little garlic powder when making the meatballs and used frozen chopped spinach. It's a meal in one bowl--just add some bread.
This is an excellent soup. I tried this once in an Italian restaurant and loved it and this was just as good if not better. I used Orzo pasta, nice and small, and added 1 clove of garlic to meatballs. Quick, easy and delicious meal. Definitely 5 stars.
Good soup, but one addition. I've always added small cheese balls to the soup. Beat an egg or 2 and add Parmesan cheese until it's stiff enough to make into a ball, then drop into the hot soup at the end so they don't cook too long. These are my favorite part of the soup, so I always make more rather than less. They also add more flavor to the soup. Just be sure to make the cheese balls very tiny (about grape size) because they expand in the soup. Extra effort but well worth it.
Exactly what I was looking for! I added old bay seasoning to the broth though since it seemed a little bland to me. I also cooked/baked the meatballs and noodles (half way) prior to adding them to the soup.
It would be better if the meatballs were cooked first. Otherwise it makes the soup too greasy.
