This recipe will be written as I do it and I have no idea if it will be good or not. Fingers crossed! :)
I got Swiss chard on sale for $1.33 a bunch so couldn't resist buying it. I would have only bought two but the deal said "Three for $3.99" so I just did that. Some grocery stores mean you have to fulfill the whole deal and others do not. I didn't want to bother finding out. I had some leftover Chinese sausage (lap cheong) in the fridge that I wanted to use up. I had those great Harvest Grains from Trader Joe's in my cupboard so thought they would work well in a soup too. When I make my "real" Italian Wedding Soup, there will be no tomatoes in it - however, today I felt like them though. The ingredients I used were:
- 3 bunches of organic Swiss chard (long stems removed, rolled up like cigars and cut in short ribbons)
- 4 Chinese sausages, sliced thinly on the bias and fried until crispy
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 lb of lean ground pork, for meatball mixture
- 3/4 lb of lean ground hamburger, for meatball mixture
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, for meatball mixture
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic, for meatball mixture
- Couple pieces of French bread made into bread crumbs for meatball mixture
- 1 egg, for meatball mixture
- Good shake of Worcestershire sauce, for meatball mixture
- Italian parsley, chopped for soup, meatball mixture and garnish
- 1 cup of Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend
- 3 small carrots from a bunch, sliced
- 2 small stalks of celery with leaves, sliced
- 1 teaspoon of crushed chili flakes
- 1 box (946 ml) of Kirkland organic low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups of water
- 28 oz can of San Marzano whole tomatoes (hand squished)
- Fresh rosemary, stripped off stem and chopped
- Fresh thyme, bundled with twine
- Freshly cracked pepper, for meatball mixture and soup
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt, for meatball mixture and soup
- Parmesan cheese rind, for soup broth
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese, for meatball mixture and garnish (my "absent sous chef" son did this for me)
Whew-sigh...that's quite a list and chore regime for a weeknight! It worked out okay as I took a couple of hours off work, so was able to get everything done in stages, like I do on weekends...
So, the first thing I did was get the ground meat mixed up and ready to make meatballs. I just put all the dry ingredients in a food processor. I put that in the meat, then added an egg, Parmesan and a good dash of Worcestershire sauce.
I mixed by hand till everything was incorporated and covered with saran wrap. I put this in the fridge until I was ready to roll them.
I sliced and sauteed the Chinese sausages next and left them on a paper towel to drain. I put them aside.
Christine's Kitchen ALERT! ALERT! I actually got my "absent sous chef" son to roll the meatballs for me!!! I gave him the large end of melon baller scoop so they could be consistent. I also told him to rinse the scoop and his hands with cold water between each meatball. He did an awesome job, as below!!!
He also made me so happy because I was seriously tired today and so appreciated the assistance.
I chopped the Swiss chard next. It was a huge amount, but I knew, like spinach, it would disappear once it wilted down. I chopped the herbs (below), mixed into two piles - left was for the soup, right was for garnish.
I chopped the rest of the veggies. I got a dutch oven and splashed a quarter cup of olive oil around. I put the onion, carrots, celery, chili flakes and garlic in.
Something that I don't normally do is saute the onions/veggies for soup but I wanted to for this one to bring more flavor since I wasn't using a "real" broth. I sauteed until soft and seasoned with S&P. I then added all the ingredients (including cheese rind).
I brought it to a boil, covered and low simmered for 20 minutes with the help of my timer (I was worried about the meatballs turning tough). At 10 minutes I sampled the meatballs and they were done! Don't put them in early like I did. Wait until the last 10 minutes. They were on their way to become tough, just like I feared. :( The chard ate a lot of the broth too, so top up with water or broth if needed...At the end, I fished out the thyme bundle and the cheese rind.
Hmmmm, well...I think I want to make the "original" recipe, lol. This was good as in okay - my son liked it a lot. It was anti-climactic for me, unfortunately... Two bunches of chard may have been better as it seems to have stole my broth and this ended up being more like a stew. I'll see what I think tomorrow. I truly am my own worst critic... Your mileage may vary... :)
So, the first thing I did was get the ground meat mixed up and ready to make meatballs. I just put all the dry ingredients in a food processor. I put that in the meat, then added an egg, Parmesan and a good dash of Worcestershire sauce.
I mixed by hand till everything was incorporated and covered with saran wrap. I put this in the fridge until I was ready to roll them.
I sliced and sauteed the Chinese sausages next and left them on a paper towel to drain. I put them aside.
Christine's Kitchen ALERT! ALERT! I actually got my "absent sous chef" son to roll the meatballs for me!!! I gave him the large end of melon baller scoop so they could be consistent. I also told him to rinse the scoop and his hands with cold water between each meatball. He did an awesome job, as below!!!
He also made me so happy because I was seriously tired today and so appreciated the assistance.
I chopped the Swiss chard next. It was a huge amount, but I knew, like spinach, it would disappear once it wilted down. I chopped the herbs (below), mixed into two piles - left was for the soup, right was for garnish.
I chopped the rest of the veggies. I got a dutch oven and splashed a quarter cup of olive oil around. I put the onion, carrots, celery, chili flakes and garlic in.
Something that I don't normally do is saute the onions/veggies for soup but I wanted to for this one to bring more flavor since I wasn't using a "real" broth. I sauteed until soft and seasoned with S&P. I then added all the ingredients (including cheese rind).
I brought it to a boil, covered and low simmered for 20 minutes with the help of my timer (I was worried about the meatballs turning tough). At 10 minutes I sampled the meatballs and they were done! Don't put them in early like I did. Wait until the last 10 minutes. They were on their way to become tough, just like I feared. :( The chard ate a lot of the broth too, so top up with water or broth if needed...At the end, I fished out the thyme bundle and the cheese rind.
Hmmmm, well...I think I want to make the "original" recipe, lol. This was good as in okay - my son liked it a lot. It was anti-climactic for me, unfortunately... Two bunches of chard may have been better as it seems to have stole my broth and this ended up being more like a stew. I'll see what I think tomorrow. I truly am my own worst critic... Your mileage may vary... :)
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