Meatball-Tomato Soup

It’s Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but Fall awaits. Where we live, it sometimes arrives early - cool temperatures, heavy cloud cover over leaden skies, rain ... The transition from summer to Fall can be rapid. Now that I’ve single-handedly destroyed our tourism industry, let’s move along.

If you’ve been enjoying a warm Summer where you live, keep this excellent recipe for Fall and Winter. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, clip it (watch those computer wires, dearies!) and make it now. 

Meatball-Tomato Soup is tasty, nourishing, inexpensive, and easy to make. A year or so ago, I discovered that Costco’s frozen meatballs are every bit as 

good (and likely less expensive) as those I make from scratch. Trust me when I say the recipe in this blog for Sophia’s Meatballs (and the sauce! Oy, the sauce!) is outstanding, but I’m not getting any younger and am lazing around more than I once did.

It goes without saying (but I will) that the proportions for this recipe are adjustable. Slap it around until it begs for mercy: Use as much onion, celery, and canned or fresh tomatoes as you like (or have in your pantry). Which is why this is a “no recipe” recipe, with no specific quantities other than “as required.” Just don’t omit the meatballs and all will be well.

Meatball-Tomato Soup:

Meatballs, homemade or commercial

Olive or canola oil

Onion, diced fine

Fresh carrot (singular or plural), peeled and diced 

Celery, angle-sliced into 3/8 in. (1 cm) pieces

Crushed tomatoes with juice, undrained, commercially prepared or homemade

Spaghetti sauce, commercially prepared or homemade

Beef broth, commercially prepared or homemade

Italian seasoning

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 

Dry, short pasta such as fancy, twirled macaroni (see Note)

Fresh parsley or chives or basil, chopped (optional, as topping)

Grated Parmesan (optional, as topping) 

In large, medium, or small skillet (see Bossy Pants Note), warm oil over medium heat. Fry the H out of the meatballs, turning often to brown all sides. Remove from skillet, draining   fat on double-folded paper towel. Don’t wash skillet.

Fry onions, carrots, and celery in skillet over medium heat until softened, about 5 min. Transfer to medium-sized pot. Stir in crushed tomatoes with juice, spaghetti sauce, broth, seasonings, and meatballs. Simmer 10 min., allowing flavors to blend. 

As tomato-meatball mixture simmers, bring large pot of well-salted water to a boil, adding pasta to it. Pasta should take about 10 min. to cook; if not, give it another couple of minutes to be “al dente” - tender enough to chew, but not overly soft. 

Add cooked, drained, hot pasta to sauce mixture, mixing gently but thoroughly. Transfer to heated pasta bowls, If you happen to be feeling lah de dah or fancy-schmancy the day you make this, top with parsley and grated Parmesan. Serve at once.

Note: Far be it for me to tell you how much to use, but remember! Dried macaroni swells to xx times its volume after cooking. Don’t use a heavy hand as you add it.

Bossy Pants Note: You’re in charge - not I! Decide how many meatballs you want and you’ll know the size of skillet and pot you’ll need. I usually say “Go big or go home!” But then I realize I already am home, so I often scale recipes down.