Spaghetti and Meatball Stoup
Thinner than a stew, but thicker than a soup...it's a stoup! Add in peppers, mushrooms or even chopped zucchini to bump up the veggies in this dish. They may be added and sautéed along with onions and carrots. Serve with Italian Chef Salad.
For my spaghetti and meatball stoup, both the pasta and the meatballs cook in the hot tomato-y broth – saving you time you otherwise might have spent on boiling and draining pasta, browning meatballs and washing lots of pots! –RR
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 can tomato sauce (15 ounces)
- 1 can crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
- A generous handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (a generous handful), plus some for passing at the table
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2-3/4 pound spaghetti, broken into thirds, depending on how "noodle-y" you like it
Preparation
Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, garlic, bay leaf, onion and carrots and sauté five minutes or until softened. Season with a little salt and pepper, then add the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and chicken stock. Cover pot and bring to a boil.
Place the beef in a bowl and add the Worcestershire sauce, parsley, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese, salt and pepper. After thoroughly combining everything with your hands, roll the mixture into balls the size of a large walnut and drop into the soup pot – if you’re cooking with kids, ask them to help you roll the meatballs – they’ll love it!
Once all of the meatballs have been added, wash up. Stir the broken spaghetti into the pot and cook seven minutes more. Season stoup with salt and pepper to your taste and serve. Pass grated cheese at the table for topping.
Tips: Pasta may be cooked separately to avoid becoming overcooked if the stoup is being served over a long period of time. Dab a little EVOO on cooked al dente pasta and keep in a bowl or even in the colander you drained it in, covered with plastic, until ready to serve. Place a small amount of pasta in stoup bowl, microwave 15-20 seconds and top with hot stoup.
If stoup gets too thick for your liking, stir in a cup of water or stock to loosen it up.
Add in peppers, mushrooms or even chopped zucchini to bump up the veggies in this dish. They may be added and sautéed along with onions and carrots.
