Italian Meatball Soup |Cooking With Amanda

It is cold out. I am not a big fan of the cold. I grew up in the Mid-West where cold has its own meaning. When it snows in November there is a good chance you will not see the grass or the actual road again until April.

Now we live in Colorado, and I have gotten spoiled. Anything under 40 degrees and I am complaining. We get snow, but it melts a couple days later. Wind chill happens a couple times a year, but almost never is negative.

To deal with the cold I rely on soup. There is nothing like a comforting hot bowl of soup at the end of the day. Add crusty rustic bread and you have a meal that almost makes me forget it is cold outside.

This Italian meatball soup comes together in under 30 minutes, and all in just one pan.

Store bought frozen meatballs are key to getting this dinner on the table fast. The really nice thing about this recipe is you don't have to plan ahead at all. You can start with frozen meatballs and still be eating in 30 minutes.

I am the worst with planning ahead for dinner, so knowing that I can make up my mind at 4:00 and we can still have a homemade meal is key. I added fresh spinach during the last minute of cooking, but if you don't have any, feel free to skip this step. I have made it both ways, and my family is happy either way.

My son loves having the pasta in there, so I wouldn't skip that step! Ditalini is a small round cut pasta that works great in this Italian meatball soup. But you can really use any small cut pasta. You could even break up spaghetti if that is all you had. Dinner is meant to be easy, so use what you have!

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Italian Meatball Soup Recipe

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 pound bag frozen italian meatballs
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups ditalini pasta, uncooked
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and Italian seasoning.
Pour in chicken stock. Add frozen meatballs. Bring to a boil.
Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes until pasta is cooked.
Stir in spinach and season to taste.
Serve immediately.