Italian Meatball Soup (Print Version)

# Ingredients:

→ Meatballs

01 - 1 pound pasture-raised ground beef
02 - 4 cloves garlic, chopped super fine
03 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, diced
04 - 2 tablespoons grated onions
05 - ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
06 - 1 tablespoon tomato paste
07 - 1 egg
08 - 1 teaspoon salt
09 - ½ teaspoon black pepper

→ Soup Base

10 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
11 - ¾ cup finely diced onions
12 - 4 cloves garlic, chopped small
13 - 1 tablespoon tomato paste
14 - 36 ounces tomato basil sauce (1½ jars)
15 - ½ teaspoon crushed fennel seeds (skip if you want)
16 - Red pepper flakes as you like (tiny bit to ½ teaspoon)
17 - 1 quart veggie or chicken broth
18 - 8 ounces pasta shells
19 - Fresh sourdough bread for the side

# Instructions:

01 - Grab a medium bowl and combine the chopped garlic, diced parsley, grated onions, breadcrumbs, tomato paste, egg, salt and pepper with a fork. Then add your beef and mix gently with your hands. Don't squeeze too hard. Shape into about 30-32 tiny meatballs, roughly 1 tablespoon each, and put them on a plate.
02 - Warm up a tablespoon of olive oil in a big Dutch oven on medium heat. Put the meatballs in without crowding them, doing batches if needed. Turn them now and then until they're brown all over, about 6 minutes. They'll finish cooking in the soup, so no need to cook them through. Take them out and dump all but 1 teaspoon of the grease.
03 - Pour the other tablespoon of oil into the pot and let it warm up. Throw in the diced onions and cook them for 5 minutes until soft and see-through. Add your chopped garlic and stir for 30 seconds until you can smell it. Mix in the tomato paste and red pepper flakes. If you're using fennel seeds, crush them in your fingers and toss them in too, cooking another 30 seconds.
04 - Add the tomato basil sauce, broth, 1 cup of water, and put those browned meatballs back in. Let it all come to a boil. Drop in the pasta shells and turn down to medium heat so it keeps bubbling gently. Cook about 10-12 minutes until the pasta feels tender and meatballs aren't pink inside. If it looks too thick, splash in up to 1 cup more water and heat it through again. Try it and add more salt or spices if you want.
05 - Scoop the hot soup into bowls, sprinkle some fresh parsley on top, and serve with chunks of sourdough bread or some tasty garlic toast on the side.

# Notes:

01 - Want easy garlic toast? Just brown some sourdough slices in a pan with a bit of olive oil until they're crispy. Then rub them with a cut garlic clove while they're still hot.
02 - If you'll have leftovers, you might want to cook the pasta by itself and add it to each bowl before the soup. This way the pasta won't soak up all the broth when stored.

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