Pasta meatball soup

“Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living.  For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish.”
Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949) 
 

My mom had a collection of little booklets on various cuisines. I guess I have mentioned about the Italian cookbook in the post on stuffed chicken breasts

The first and last dish I ever tried from that book was a meatball pasta soup. I don't have the book with me anymore but the memory of this soup hit me like dejavu few weeks back. I had some penne pasta and some mutton minced meat and I was planning to make a simple pasta with meat sauce when this idea struck me. I made this soup  based on my memory of this recipe which I read 15 years ago. I am sure I have manipulated a lot, improvised a bit, boldly added ingredients I would not dream of 15 years ago. This is the last meal I prepared before I had ' the revelation'. Well the revelation made me go into trance for weeks but I am fine now. In terms of cooking my life has gone a major transition since 'the revelation'. I guess I will build some suspense on the the revelation to entice you guys back here.

This is a very hearty meal, filling than you realize, it has veggies, pasta and meat so I find it a wholesome meal. Go ahead and enjoy !

Ingredients for Pasta Meatball Soup

For the Meatballs

Minced meat - 250 g ( I used mutton)

Garlic- 4 cloves minced

Sweet basil powder- 2 tsp

Pepper- 1 tsp

Salt-to taste

Egg- 1

All purpose flour/ Bread crumbs- 1/2 cup

Directions

Add all the ingredients except the egg in a bowl and mix well. Add some paprika if you want your meatballs spicy. Now add the whisked egg, this helps to bind the meatballs. Let the mince rest for 3o minutes before making balls. Coat the balls with bread crumbs or all purpose flour and shallow fry them. You can deep fry them or bake them if you like it that way I chose to shallow fry.

For the Soup

Carrots diced- 2

Potatoes diced- 1

Capsicum Diced- 2

Tomato puree- 1 cup-/ 100ml ( I made mine by blanching 5 tomatoes you can use the ready made ones too)

Onion- 1 

Penne pasta- 100 g

Olive oil- 2 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Pepper- 1 tsp

Directions 

Saute the onion in olive oil and add the veggies let them cook for a while. When the veggies are cooked half way add the tomato puree, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 10 minutes more. Simultaneously in a  pot boil the pasta till al dente and drain it. Pour some chilled water over the pasta to keep it firm.

Once the veggies are cooked to your preference ( I like them  well cooked) add the pasta  and let it simmer for 6-8 minutes.Now add the meatballs and let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes.

 

 Garnish with fresh basil and your soup is ready.