Make Something New - February

I decided to get the "Whip Up Something New" for February done right away, though I know that I will make lots of "somethings new" over the month.

Tonight's dinner is Italian Wedding Soup.

the magazine picture

This recipe comes from a Better Homes and Garden magazine, Essential Slow Cooker, which I found at the supermarket the other day. It is loaded with onions, which means Walt will hate it (or that he'll spend half of the meal plucking thin slices of onion out of the soup)--but how can you cook Italian without the taste of onion (he doesn't mind the taste, he just hates the texture--Marta doesn't eat onions either, so they are "sisters in misfortune.")

Here's the recipe:

1 large onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 oil-packed dried tomatoes, drained and finely snipped
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1 pound lean ground beef
2 tsp olive oil
1 large fennel bulb
2 14-oz cans reduced sodium chicken broth
3-1/2 cups water
6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup dried orzo pasta
5 cups shredded fresh spinach

1. Finaly chop one-third of the onion, thinly slice the remaining onion. In a large bowl, combine chopped onion, egg, dried tomatoes, bread crumbs, and 1 tsp of the Italian seasoning. Add ground beef; mix well. Shape into 12 meatballs. In a large skillet,cook meatballs in oil over medium high heat until browned on all sides. Carefully drain off fat. Transfer meatballs to a 4-1/2 or 5 quart slow cooker.

2. Cut off and discard upper stalks of fennel. Remove any wilted outer layers. cutt off a thin slice from the base. Cut fennel into thin wedges; add to cooker. Add sliced onion, remaining 1 tsp Italian seasoning, broth, water, garlic and pepper.

3. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8-10 hours, or on high heat setting for 4-5 hours.

4. If using low heat setting, turn to high heat setting. Gently stir in uncooked pasta. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes more until pasta is tender.

5. Stir in spinach. If desired, garnich each serving with the reserved fennel leaves.

Makes 6 servings.

(per serving: 283 cal, 10 g fat (3 g sat. fat), 83 mg chol., 515 mg sodium, 26g carbo, 3 g figer, 21 g pro)

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Report: Tastly little bugger! Good recipe.