Meatball soup with ricotta
Meatball soup with ricotta
Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Super comforting and a family favourite around here!
For this soup, I added rice to thicken it and add body. It was like a hug in a bowl. I blitzed all the vegetables in the food processor, as you want them quite small here. Try grating them if you don’t have a food processor or alternatively you can just finely chop them.
The ricotta in the meatballs makes them nice and tender so they don't need long.
Notes:
The rice will continue to absorb liquid as it sits and it is even better the next day, although a lot thicker! If you want to make this in advance, I would simmer the meatballs in the sauce, but add the rice when you reheat it and cook it until the rice is tender.
INGREDIENTS
Soup base
2-3 T olive oil
2-3 carrots , finely chopped
1 onion , finely chopped
2 sticks celery or fennel , finely chopped
6 cloves garlic , finely chopped
1 jar passata – 700ml
1 L water or stock
1/3 cup arborio rice - don't be tempted to add more!
1 T balsamic vinegar
pinch sugar to balance
salt and pepper
Meatballs
500 g mince - beef or pork or half and half
125 g ricotta
½ cup breadcrumbs or porridge oats
1 egg
½ cup Parmesan or similar , finely grated
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp garlic powder
60 g spinach Chopped- optional. You could also fold through the soup at the end. Frozen spinach is also an option.
To serve
Extra ricotta
Finely grated parmesan to top
A drizzle cream or creme fraiche - extra yum
METHOD
Soup base
Blitz the vegetables in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and cook off the vegetable base with a good pinch of salt. While that’s happening, start making and browning the meatballs.
Once the vegetables are nice and cooked, add in the passata, a pinch of sugar, balsamic and water and bring to a simmer.
Add the browned meatballs into the soup and the bits from the deglazed pan.
Add the rice and simmer for 25 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Meatballs
For the meatballs, pop all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together and season well with salt and pepper. Roll into balls. These can be made in advance.
I find it it easier to brown the meatballs separately in a pan and transfer them to the soup. Heat a little oil in a heavy based frying pan and brown the meatballs on each side. Set aside if you need to brown them in batches. After they are all brown, deglaze the pan with some water or some of the soup and pour that into the soup base too, so you get all that flavour.
To serve
Serve with a dollop of ricotta, a grating of parmesan and little drizzle of cream or crème fraiche to cut through the rich tomato. Serve with crusty bread.
Meatball and ricotta soup.
Like a hug in a bowl.
