All throughout the day today, I've been craving comfort food because of this ice storm we're experiencing. This is the perfect dish for a cold and windy day because every bite that you take encourages comfort. Let's dive in to this soup.
Ingredients:
2 TBSP olive oil
2 cups sliced carrots (about half of a bag of baby carrots)
2 stalks celery cut in half longways and sliced
1 white onion diced
1 red bell pepper diced
3 cloves of garlic
4-5 cups chicken broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup pearled barley OR long-grain wild rice OR orzo
1 pound ground turkey or beef (I used turkey for this recipe)
1 cup italian blend cheese + more for topping
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
salt
pepper
For the soup:
Start the soup by heating up the olive oil in a dutch oven. Add in the diced carrots, celery, 1/2 of the diced onion, red pepper, and the garlic. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the onions are tender. Add in the chicken broth, the canned tomatoes, a pinch of salt, and the barley (or rice or orzo). Simmer on medium-high heat until the barley/rice/orzo is done and the soup thickens a little. If the soup seems too thick, add a little more broth.
While the soup is simmering, put together the meatballs. In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, eggs, breadcrumbs, the other half of the onion, pinch of salt and pepper, and the cheese. Mix the meatball mixture together with clean hands. If the meat mixture is too wet (or the meatballs don't form right), mix in a few more breadcrumbs. Form the meatballs-- I made about 16 meatballs. Heat up some olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat and then cook the meatballs in the pan, turning them regularly. Cook them for about 10 minutes or until the outsides of the meatballs are golden brown and have a nice crust on them.
Add the meatballs into the simmering soup and cook for an additional 10 minutes. You may remove a meatball from the soup and cut it in half to check to see if they're done. The meatball is done if there is no more pink color in the center.
Sprinkle a little of the italian blend cheese on top when serving. Enjoy!
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