Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup recipe from Cooking Cutie's Blog. Need to try this one.

http://cookingcutie.blogspot.com/2007/02/italian-wedding-soup.html

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, grated
4 T. grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
2 T. bread crumbs
1 tsp. dried basil
1.5 tsp. dried parsley
2 egg whites

Combine all ingredients and shape into small (1/2") meatballs. I refrigerated mine for a few hours and it helped to set the shape so they didn't fall apart in the soup.

Shredded chicken:
Place 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts into a stockpot and cover well with water. Bring to a boil and boil until completely cooked. Shred chicken and set aside. Empty water from stockpot.

Soup:
2 T. butter
1 small onion, diced
1/2 c. sliced carrots (approximately 2 carrots)
1/2 c. sliced celery (approximately 2 stalks)
1 clove minced garlic
8 c. chicken broth
Salt & pepper to taste
3/4 c. acini di pepi or other small pasta (I used orzo because we had it in the house)
8 oz. fresh spinach

Melt butter in stockpot. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic, and cook until veggies are tender, but not too soft.
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down, cover and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Drop in meatballs and cook about 7 minutes. Add pasta and cook for an additional 6 minutes. Add spinach and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add in shredded chicken. Cover again and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes or so. You can eat as soon as the chicken is re-heated, but allowing it to simmer for a little longer allows all the new flavors to meld together.

We enjoy eating the soup with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese sprinkled on top.