This month Nadia G from Bitchin Kitchen won the Cooking Club Challenge at Food Network Canada for her recipe Italian Stracciatella with Mini Meatballs, Tender Cheese Tortellini and Baby Spinach. I was super excited! As my newsletter readers will already know, I am a huge fan of Nadia G and decided to order her cookbook as a birthday present to myself after making this fantastic soup! Yes, I loved it that much.
You begin with the meatballs: an egg, some parsley, freshly grated Parmesan, clove of garlic, oregano, Italian seasoned breadcrumbs… mix together.
Combine with meat but do not over mix! I decided to go with a healthier version of meatballs so I chopped up some turkey bacon and added it to some ground turkey.
The meatballs were supposed to be mini but I did not chop up the turkey bacon finely enough but they were still small and quite cute.
Next bring chicken broth to a simmer in a large pot. Nadia G. recommends her Liquid Gold Broth but I recommend watching her Anxiety-Strick Soup video, too funny! I, however, used boxed stock to make my life easier. Remember, you only want it to be a simmer! If it is boiling your meatballs will fall apart.
Nadia G. says to “throw” in your meatball but I prefer to be a tad more delicate in the name of avoiding a foodie disaster. Plus, mine were probably twice the size of what they should be. Add some cheese-filled tortellini and simmer for eight minutes. I simmered for at least 12 because they were larger in size and then I covered it with the lid and let them steam for another seven minutes, just to be safe.
Whisk an egg seasoned with salt, then stir into the broth à la the egg drop soup method to make many, many pretty wisps. Ladle soup into a bowl with some fresh baby spinach on the bottom and garnish with more finely grated Parmesan.
This soup was so delicious I had two bowls of it in a row! Not only that, my husband came home from work the other day wearing his dragon tail hat, looking so forlorn and frozen at the same time. I made him a nice big bowl of soup and he adored it. After thawing out thanks to the soup I believe his words were, “Damn, that’s good soup.”
Made this way, I think the soup is pretty darn perfect. Thanks to the boxed broth, the only challenge was making the meatballs which did not take that long. Great flavour, perfect for this nasty winter we are getting on the east coast. I give this recipe five out of five wooden spoons.
Yum! Full of protein too.
That looks so goooood! That would totally hit the spot on a frigid day. It photographed so deliciously as well.
Suzie, talk about putting an Italian to shame! Your soup looks so hearty. Perfect for the freezing weather that has hit Montreal!