Meatball Recipe for Heidi. :)

I made THIS soup for dinner Thursday, but me being me, I winged it with what I had on hand (didn't plan to make it, just saw the recipe and decided to try it), and also made a bigger batch, so that Paul could have leftovers.

Heidi and her kids came over for a playdate and dinner that night, so we adults had the soup, and we all really liked the meatballs. It was the first time I'd ever cooked meatballs in a soup, and I have to say they come out very tender that way.

More or less I used the recipe if you cook the above link, but I initially subbed a quart of beef stock for the chicken stock, then, seeing as I was making a double batch of meatballs, I topped it all off with some 3 cups of chicken stock so it would all be covered in liquid in the 5qt pot I used. I also just used about half a pound of the 3 color peppers you buy in the frozen section of Trader Joe's--they're super cheap compared to fresh colored bell peppers--and chopped them to bite size instead of strips. Finally, the soup had little in the way of herbs/spices beyond salt and pepper, so I added 1/4 t red pepper flakes, 1/2 t dried thyme and a bay leaf. (Little t = tsp.)

For the meatballs: I used sourdough instead of white bread (never buy the stuff). Ripped 2 large slices into pieces and soaked with 1 c milk. When the milk absorbed, I mixed in 1 package TJ's sweet italian sausage removed from the casings, one package of ground beef, some salt and pepper, about 1/2 c chopped parsley, an egg, and about 1/3 c grated parmesan. I also threw in probably 1/4 c leftover creamed spinach, just because I had it and figured it couldn't hurt. Then I followed the recipe on forming them and adding to the soup. It was really good, and I will make it again. Oh! And I had it over cooked egg noodles, just because it seemed like a nice idea. I liked it!