Not Corned Beef and Cabbage Mini Meatball Soup

We set out to create a great St. Patties day post the other day, started poking around, looking for recipes and getting all excited about it (Eric starts playing bagpipe music at his desk starting in early March) but we realized the same the we realize pretty much every year, neither of us are huge fans of Irish food. Irish whiskey? Yes. Irish Beer? Yes. Yes. Fake Irish accents? Yes. Yes. Yes. Irish food? Ehhh not so much. (Charisse says "except stew. I like stew. Put that in there.").  Charisse found the recipe and really wanted to try it out. Eric wanted to drink Guinness and pretend to be Irish. Not surprisingly we did both. It's actually a really tasty soup using Charisse's homemade chicken stock for a base. We made of course, far too much. Even giving it away we ended up freezing a ton of it for a later date. We always make way too much soup for some odd reason, but having too much soup is rarely a problem to complain about. Tomorrow Dan is coming over and we're installing grass in the backyard, which should be a huge improvement over the existing patch of dirt and remnants of the great grass disaster of '09. Grass seed + exposed sprinkler wires + new puppy = disaster. Actually quite a number of things + new puppy equals disaster, though we'll have to get to that another day since the dog just took off with our soup spoon. 

Printable Recipe

Not Corned Beef and Cabbage Mini Meatball Soup

What You Will Need

1 yellow onion (diced)
1 roasted red bell pepper (diced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes
5 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup sherry 
2 bay leaves
3 large handfuls of fresh spinach 
1 bag of mini raviolis 
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Meatballs
What You Will Need

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion (minced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Parmesan cheese for topping 

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs and mix well. Form into bite sized meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter. In a large pot or dutch oven. Heat 1 Tbs oil on medium high and brown the meatballs on all sides. Don't worry about cooking all the way through because you will finish cooking them in the soup.  Once browned, remove from pot and set aside. In the same pot, saute onions and garlic until soft about 4 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook another minute or so. De glaze the pan by pouring in the sherry and scraping up all the browned bit stuck on the bottom. 

Pour in the chicken stock  and seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add the meatballs in carefully so they don't break and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile cook the ravioli separately according to the package. Cook ravioli al dente, drain, and finish off cooking in the soup.  Add the spinach and simmer just until wilted, taste to adjust seasonings and serve hot! 

adapted from http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/