Meatball Tortellini Soup

For the meatballs, combine the beef, Romano cheese, chopped parsley, eggs, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until just combined.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a rimmed baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Form the meatball mixture into 1″ meatballs and place on the prepared pan. Bake, uncovered at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Remove from oven. If you’d like a little more “brown” on the outside once the meatballs are cooked through, give them a toss in a non-stick skillet over medium high beat to sear the outsides. That’s what I usually do. Set meatballs aside.

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery and onions and cook, stirring, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Pour in the broth, water and kosher salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot and let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the cooked meatballs to the pot and simmer the soup until the meatballs are just heated through, about 2 minutes.

Add the frozen tortellini and cook until they float to the top, about 8-10 minutes. Add the spinach and parsley. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute.

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve topped with a sprinkling of grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Makes 8 servings.

Adapted from Food Network Magazine.