Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Italian Wedding Soup

I love love love Ina Garten! I may not always have the high quality stuff she does but every recipe of hers I've ever attempted is divine! This is such a yummy soup. Fresh, light and different. The meatballs are a must.

For the meatballs: 
¾ pound ground chicken 
½ pound chicken or pork sausage, casings removed 
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs 
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves) 
3 tablespoons dried parsley 
¼-1/2 Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving 
3 tablespoons milk 
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
For the soup: 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
1 cup minced yellow onion 
1 cup ¼-inch diced carrots (3 carrots) 
¾ cup (¼-inch diced celery (2 stalks) 
10 cups chicken stock 
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
A dash of dill or whatever Italian seasonings you desire
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed 
She used 1/2 cup dry white wine which I don't have 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1- to 1¼-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don’t have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside. 

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan cheese. 

Homemade Granola

I'm pretty excited about this recipe! I've been wanting to make it for a while and finally did. I saw the recipe on Cooks Country and found one similar to it online. The possibilities are endless. In the fall I want to add pumpkin pie spice. My father in law loves granola so we made this for his Father's Day gift in a cute glass jar. I cooked it a little too long so I was sure to modify that in the recipe. Enjoy! Adapted from thefrugalgal.com

1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cup raw whole almonds, chopped
1/8 cup flax seed 

1 Tbsp wheat germ

2 cups raisins or other dried fruit (I combined craisins, raisins and dried apricots)

She adds 1/2 cup or so of flaked coconut I couldn't find that so I left it out.

Heat oven to 325° F. Grease a rimmed half-sheet baking pan.

Whisk together the maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and oil. Stir in oats, almonds, and other toppings.

Spread the oat mixture into the prepared baking sheet; press evenly to compact granola. Just lightly press. Don't break your wrist over it.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until granola is lightly browned, rotating baking sheet halfway through the baking time.

Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly. When granola is cool, break into clusters and stir in dried fruit.

Store in an airtight container up to 1 month.


Read more at http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2012/09/no-stir-clumpalicious-granola/#7jcPqiCI18STO7kp.99