Be Careful What You Wish For, and a Quick and Delicious Soup.

Every day I would go outside, hoping that one of the chickens would lay an egg. Now they are laying consistently and I find myself with a plethora of eggs! I'm not complaining, though :) Does anybody have a few good egg recipes? I have a bread recipe that uses a dozen eggs (truly, it does) so I may have to dig that one out.

I have to say I am amazed at what lovely eggs they are blessing us with. This is a rather large stoneware bowl. It is the old Mayflower Corgi Club pottery pasta bowl. I'd say the eggs would be sized as 'large.' It seems like it took such a long, long time for them to start laying. Has anyone else ever had hens that didn't lay until they were almost a year old? I understand they should have started when they were about 6 mos. old for this breed, the Silver Laced Wyandottes. Oh well, late bloomers I guess. Maybe just the long dark Winter.

I love a good home made soup, especially chicken soup. Some people call chicken soup with little meatballs Italian Wedding Soup. We just call it chicken soup around here since the little meatballs are a given. There is mutiny amongst the ranks when I don't include them. There are nights when I feel like having soup but just don't want to spend hours cooking stock and taking chicken off of the bones. I still want something healthy, delicious and nutritious to feed my family, however. Here is my quick and lighter chicken soup recipe. It needs a name. Since it is quick and easy and usually made on the spur of the moment, How about Cathy's Italian Elopement Soup or maybe Cathy's Shotgun Wedding Soup? :) It is quick because I use store bought stock or your own stock you have in the freezer, boneless chicken breasts, dried herbs and spices from the pantry and you don't cook the pasta separately. The most time consuming part is making the little meatballs.

Ingredients:

• 1 large can (48 oz) of College Inn Light & Fat Free 50% less sodium Chicken Broth


• approximately 1 pound of boneless chicken breasts, either thin sliced or split are fine, cut into bite sized pieces. (*hint: do you have a kitchen scissors? After washing the chicken, you can use your scissors to cut it into small pieces quickly and right over the pot! These scissors should be washed thoroughly before and after use and only used for cooking)


• 1 pound of fresh carrots, peeled, rinsed and cut into bite-sized pieces


• 5 or 6 ribs of celery, washed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Include some of the tender light green ones from the center, including the light tender leaves.


• 2 medium or 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 pound of the leanest ground beef
• 1/2 cup of flavored or seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup grated romano or parmesan cheese (better cheese makes better meatballs) and more for topping the soup later.
• 1 fresh egg
• milk (you can substitute water)
• one 8 oz. can tomato sauce

• Spices and seasonings: dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley flakes, garlic powder, sea salt and ground black pepper


• 12 oz. small egg bow-ties pasta


• fresh cold water

Put chopped carrots, celery, and onion in a large soup pot. Add enough water to cover veggies with about 4 inches extra. Cover the pot. Bring to a boil on high flame and then lower the flame to a low-medium boil. Keep the lid slightly ajar so you don't boil over. While the veggies are gently cooking, get started on your meatballs.

Miniature soup meatballs: You will need a medium saucepan and a colander. In a bowl, combine one fresh egg, breadcrumbs, grated cheese (I sometimes add more cheese than 1/2 cup, but do what you like!) about 1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes, a pinch of dried basil, oregano, salt (if desired) and black pepper with about 1/8 cup of milk. Mix well and add the ground beef. Mix with a spoon and then continue mixing with very clean hands. Form the mixture into little bite sized meatballs. Put them into the medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until done, approximately 10 minutes. They will turn a dark greyish color. Check to make sure there is no pink left inside. Drain them in a colander and rinse with clear fresh water. Sounds crazy, but the rinsing really removes the fat. Drain.

After about 10 minutes (it will take longer than this to do your meatballs so keep an eye on the veggies.) Add your chicken broth, tomato sauce, chicken, about a tablespoon each of dried basil, oregano and parsley flakes, about 2 teaspoons of garlic powder and a good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper. We want to cook the chicken here. Check it in about 20 minutes or so. Keep the soup pot on a very low simmer while you are finishing up your meatballs. *Variation note: if you have it on hand, and if you like it, you can add a few handfuls of chopped fresh escarole here. Once the meatballs are cooked, rinsed and drained, add them to the soup. Continue simmering for about 10-15 minutes. The soup should look a bit 'watery' at this point but will come together after you add the pasta. If you think you've boiled out too much liquid, you can always add a bit more water and a chicken boullion cube or a small can of chicken broth if you have it, but as long as there is enough liquid to cook your pasta, I would leave it alone. This is a hearty soup.

Raise the flame to create a good medium boil and add the box of tiny egg bows. Cook for about 7 minutes and turn off the flame. The soup is ready! Serve with freshly grated cheese and some fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste.

Do ahead tip: You can chop all of your veggies and make your meatballs in the morning, and refrigerate them until you start your soup for dinner. As I said, the meatballs take the most time, but they are so worth it!

Give it a try. Bonus? It is even better the next day and freezes well. Let me know how it goes over at your house. -CS ^..^