Italian Wedding Soup
Growing up, Progresso Italian Wedding Soup was my all time favorite. I completely forgot about it, until another vegan blogger made a recipe. With the help from some traditional soup recipes I made my own spin on it which you would never even know is vegan.
Ingredients for the meatballs:
1 package of Beyond Meat Ground beef*
1/3 cup fresh parsley-chopped
1/2 of a yellow onion- finely chopped or grated
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 clove of garlic- minced
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1-2 tablespoons water
salt and pepper
Add all these ingredients to a bowl and combine. I find that beyond meat has a very distinct taste, so I add a touch more seasoning to try and mask it.
Ingredients for the soup:
other half of yellow onion- chopped
5 cloves of garlic- minced
2-3 carrots- chopped
3 stalks of celery- chopped
2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
12 cups of vegetable broth- I use the Better Bouillon jars and I HIGHLY recommend them. More flavor and seems like more bang for your buck. I combined 12 teaspoons into 12 cups of water and brought to a boil until the paste dissolved in the pot. Set aside to use as broth.
2 cups of Ditalini pasta (or acini de pepe)
2 handfuls spinach
Heat pot with oil and add garlic and onions. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions are soft and add the carrots and celery. Stir on medium-low heat for 4 minutes and add the seasonings, stirring until fragrant. Pour in the vegetable broth you made (or bought) and bring to a boil. While the soup is cooking, heat a large pan with olive oil on medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add the meatballs. Cook on each side until brown. Meatballs should look a bit crispy. Set aside. Once soup is boiling, add in the pasta and set a timer for 10 minutes. You can cook the meatballs while this is happening so that both will be done simultaneously. After 10 minutes, make sure the pasta is al dente, and turn off heat. Add in the spinach and stir. Now you have the choice to add the meatballs directly to the pot of soup, letting them gather that flavor, or add them as you dish up.
Enjoy!!
*This is an easy meat substitute. I don’t like to use it all the time, but it’s better than pre-made vegan meatballs because you can add to the “meat”.
