Susan's Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

Our friend Susan is an amazing cook. She is so sweet, she even shares her recipes with me.  She gave me her Italian Wedding Soup recipe and I have adapted it slightly.  This is so good and I am forever grateful to Susan for her generous spirit, warm heart and understanding soul.  I made this soup and I had it for dinner nearly every night until it was gone.  It was easy to make and comes together very quickly.  I keep meatballs on hand in the freezer and that helps make this a quick go to meal.

Italian Wedding Soup (adapted from Susan and Homemade in Half the Time)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 finely chopped onion
• 8 cups chicken broth (use homemade broth or if you use Bouillon, use only the Better than Bouillon , brand, use low sodium if you are sensitive to salt)

• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1  1/2 cups or 12 ounces cocktail size Italian flavored cooked meatballs each cut in half 
• 1/2 box cooked pasta
• 2 cups baby spinach (1 1/2 cups shredded, 1/2 cup finely diced)
• Parmesan Cheese (for garnish)
• Parmesan Cheese rind

Directions:

• In a large pot combine the butter and onion over medium heat for two to three minutes until translucent.
• Add the reconstituted Better than Bouillon broth and pepper then bring to a boil.
• Add a left over piece of Parmesan cheese rind and allow to dissolve into soup
• Cook for about 5 minutes and add meatballs (if you are adding them frozen return the soup to a boil before adding your pasta).
• Add pasta and gently cook for 3 minutes.  You can use cheese stuffed pasta or simple bow tie.
• Add spinach and reduce the heat to low. Let it sit on low for another 5 minutes or so.
• Make sure your stir it very gently. You don't need to add any salt because of the bouillon.
• You can add more spinach, pasta, or even meatballs depending on what you like, but I think this is a nice combination. 
• Serve with a real crunchy french bread and cold REAL butter.

Italian Wedding Soup topped with Parmesan