Cooking with Love

Chicken meatball soup

It's finally Fall here in the South. People wearing boots, hats and gloves. Went shopping and bought an organic whole chicken to make a big pot of soup. Also decided to make little meatballs made from white meat ground chicken. Get in the Fall spirit and make some today. Here's how it's done:

Ingredients:

1- 3 lb whole chicken

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

Chicken Broth

Cold Water

Fresh Parsley or Dill

1/2 lb ground chicken or turkey

1 egg

Parsley flakes

Garlic powder

1/4 cup grated cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup bread crumbs

In very large Dutch oven, add 2 Tbsp oil. Add chopped onion, carrots, and celery. Saute till softened. Add whole chicken that had been cleaned, rinsed in salt (a natural sterilizer). Place gently in the pot and just brown on both sides.

Add 2 quarts cold water, 2 cups of chicken broth. Stir well.

Add salt and pepper to taste. In small bowl place ground chicken, bread crumbs, cheese, egg, dry parsley, dry garlic powder. Make small meatballs or large ones, it's up to you. Drop them carefully into the soup and let simmer with the chicken for one hour.

At this time, remove the whole chicken into a large bowl. Cool it so that you can take off all the meat. Remove all skin, bones and cartilage. Discard. Put all the chicken meat back into soup pot.

Let simmer for another 45 minutes. Taste the soup. Does it need salt?

Boil some noodles, rice or little pasta separately. Add pasta or rice or noodles into the bowl first, top with ladles of chicken soup and meatballs. 

Pass the grated cheese!

Buon Appettito!