Wow… I made this soup when I had a cold and wow it really hit the spot. I love chicken noodle soup, but I was in the mood for something that was more comforting. I thought about this meatball soup, and then combined orzo and the Swiss chard, and it worked out amazing. The Swiss chard holds up much better than spinach, and the color is wonderful.
The greatest part of this is the scallion and the garlic within the meatballs itself. I’m not one to fry, but the meatballs were cooked on top of the stove, and it fried everything inside of it including the scallions and garlic, the meatballs just taste absolutely amazing.
This is definitely a soup for the ages, then again, it’s really my home run style where there is greens together with protein, so I certainly could be biased!
The soup looks gorgeous in a very large serving Bowl. It makes an incredible quantity for a whole family. Bueno Appetito!!
Ingredients
Soup:
32 ounce x 3 Organic Free Range Chicken Stock (Sprouts is only $2 each)
1/4 tsp Salt or to taste
1/4 tsp Pepper or to taste
1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning or to taste
4-6 cloves garlic depending on size – handpressed for flavor
Meatballs:
2 lbs 90pct lean ground beef
1/4 tsp Salt or to taste
1/4 tsp Pepper or to taste
1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning or to taste
4-6 cloves garlic depending on size – handpressed for flavor
ADD:
2 large bunches of swiss chard, cut the stems off then chop
1 lb orzo (pasta)
Directions:
Precook the Meatballs:
Combine all, roll, then either (a) place into a pan and fry on the stove top, adding olive oil first – this is really tasty as the scallions inside with also fry and spill out their great taste then pat dry (b) use a corregated bottom plan in the oven 375 so the oil drips down (c) *Do (a) + (b) to finish and harden the fried meatballs after in the oven for 5 -10 minutes. * This is what I did and the taste was amazing and meatballs stayed firm.
Cook for about 15-20 minutes until the meatballs are pink inside, not fully cooked.
Make the Soup:
Using a tall pot, dump all the Soup ingredients in. Get the soup boiling.
Add the Meatballs
At 20 minutes add the Orzo and Swiss Chard
At 30 minutes take off heat and immediate transfer. You want to stop the cooking so the swiss chard does not get soft.
Note: taste the soup before serving as it may need some extra pepper (1/4 tsp per taste).
Serve with parmesan cheese, you will not need to add salt as the parmesan provides a nice salty taste.
