The high in Buffalo, NY today is supposed to be 3 degrees. Nope, that’s not a typo, 3 degrees. We can’t complain though as this winter has been a cake walk compared to the freezing temperatures and record breaking amounts of snow we had last year. So aside from bundling up and keeping the tea & hot chocolate ready to go at all times I’m also making a batch of soup hearty enough to serve as a stand-alone meal.
You will need:
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 large egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. spinach flakes (I use Tastefully Simple’s Spinach & Herb seasoning)
1/8 tsp black pepper
9 oz. package fresh, ready-to-cook tortellini (pick your favorite filling)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes w/juice
1 15.5 oz. kidney beans
1 15.5 oz. cannellini beans
1 6 oz. bag fresh spinach
64 oz. chicken broth (I use Swanson’s or Wegmans Organic brands)
Directions:
1. Drain the beans & rinse, set in a bowl off to the side. Open the tomatoes and place in a bowl off to the side with the juice. Wash & dry spinach, set off to the side.
2. Using a spoon or your freshly washed hands, mix the ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, spinach flakes, garlic and pepper in medium mixing bowl. Once mixture is blended well, form into small round balls (a melon baller works perfectly if you have one) and place on a wax paper lined plate. Mixture will yield about 28-32 small meatballs.
3. In a large stock pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil and then immediately drop the heat to medium. Slowly drop the meatballs in one by one and let cook for 6-7 minutes. Take out one meatball and cut in half to be sure they have cooked all the way through. Once the meatballs are cooked through, add the tomatoes with juice, beans, spinach and stir. Add a dash of salt & fresh ground pepper if desired. Drop in the tortellini and cook on medium for about 10 minutes. If using dried/boxed tortellini, prepare according to the package directions.
Once the tortellini is cooked, let the soup simmer on very low heat until ready to serve.
Stay warm this weekend!
Leave a Reply