Recipe: Meatball Soup

This recipe was taken from my grandma's version of meatball soup. I improvised, mainly because I seriously don't remember what, exactly, went into the actual "soup" part. I've made this multiple times, and to be honest, I usually tend to overcook the little pastas and zucchinis. That didn't happen this last time, though!

I usually purchase ground meat (turkey in my case) 1lb at a time, but when I use it to make something other than meatloaf or hamburgers, I find that 1lb tends to be too much meat when it comes to dishes that call for more than just a slab of ground meat (things like meatball soup). So that's why I actually used the same meat from the previous recipe (I seasoned it the same way, so refer to yesterday's entry for the meat when preparing the meatballs). I cooked both dishes on the same day. My initial plan was to just make the meatball soup, then I realized I wanted to make something new with the "leftover" meat, hence the chilaquiles recipe I posted yesterday.

Anyway, here's what I added to the meatball soup this time around, usually I change up the recipe each time I make it. It's nothing major, really, just different veggies depending on what's in the fridge (my grandma adds spinach and I was going to until I realized the only spinach we had was canned, and that stuff is gross, in case you haven't figured it out for yourself!)

Meatball Soup (this makes enough for about 4-5 hearty servings)

Meatballs: (see previous entry for the "meat" recipe, but this time, roll the meat into 1/2-1 in. meatballs)

The soup (these ingredients will be added to a large pot that should be able to hold more than 1qt):
3/4 of the 32 oz Pacific Natural Foods beef broth quart (the rest can be used to make gravy...)
1 cup water
1.5 TBSP salt-free garlic and herb seasoning
1/2 TBSP Italian seasoning
2 tsp salt (I'm guessing here, basically, whatever amount tastes good to you)
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tsp black pepper
1/2-3/4 of 1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 bag of baby carrots, cut long-ways or 2 large carrots, diced
1 large zucchini or 2 medium, also diced
1 large corn on the cob, remove kernels with knife and add to soup pot
1.5 oz sliced black olives
1 can stewed tomatoes*
1/3 of a 16oz bag of garden rotini pasta
*the stewed tomatoes add a lot of acid; the soup can be made without it and it'll still taste good, tomato just adds another dimension of flavor. If you do want to go ahead and add it, you can add a little baking soda to lessen the acidity.

Instructions:
Bring beef broth and water to a boil once the spices and stewed tomatoes are added. Next, lower the flame to a medium setting and add the meatballs until they are no longer pink. Once the meatballs are cooked, add the carrots...once they are tender, add corn. Lower the flame even more, to a "low/simmer" setting, then add the zucchini. Cook the zucchini for only about 5-7 minutes, then add the pasta and olives. The pasta is the last thing to cook, turn off the flame when the pasta is less than al dente; the heat from the soup will continue to cook the pasta until it's just right. Once the pasta is cooked (again, while the flame is off!), the soup can be served, since it will be cool enough to eat at this point.