I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but for some reason, everyone in my house is working late, traveling and running from event to event. Long nights and busy weekends don’t make for good food choices and it’s tough to spend a Sunday meticulously preparing lunches for the week ahead. We’ve been ordering take out and pizza more often than I’d like to admit. But that’s going to stop – because now I have foolproof slow cooker recipes like this comforting Italian Wedding Soup.
Instead of making poor choices so early in the year and destroying all the progress we’ve made towards our nutrition goals, this simple soup has come to our rescue. We make this hearty soup filled with healthy ingredients in the slow cooker. It takes a few minutes to prepare the meatballs, and, within a few hours, the entire house is filled with the inviting aromas of Italian ingredients, savory broth, turkey meatballs, spinach and pasta. Bring the crock to the table and add parmesan and freshly cracked pepper. Your whole family will love it and you can easily reheat leftovers during the hectic week ahead.
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 large onion, chopped, divided
- 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 2 containers (32 ounces each) chicken broth
- 1 cup ditalini pasta
- 3 cups Fresh spinach leaves
- Stir turkey, eggs, 1/2 of the onion, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper in a large bowl until well blended. Roll turkey mixture into balls using 1 tablespoon per meatball.
- Add meatballs and remaining ingredients, except pasta and spinach to slow cooker crock.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or LOW for 6 to 6 1/2. Add pasta, cover and continue cooking for 15 minutes until pasta is tender and meatballs are cooked through.
- Stir in spinach and remaining Parmesan cheese before serving. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and coarse black pepper.
TAGS: slow cooker, spinach, wedding soup
CATEGORIES: soup & stews
