A new "Challenge" Recipe

Well, I tried another new recipe that I cut out. It was wonderful because it's a soup in the crockpot AND it had plenty of meat and filling stuff so DH would consider it dinner. Whew!! It was rated a 9.9 by the family because I made the meatballs too big. Next time I'll be sure to make them tiny so that you can eat them easily on the spoon. :)

Italian Wedding Soup
from Family Circle 11/1/08

1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 Tbsp. plain bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. + 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp + 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp black pepper
8 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 large carrots, chopped
1 small head escarole (8oz.) washed, trimmed and cut into 1/2" strips
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/4 cups acini di pepe pasta

1) In a large bowl, stir together egg, beef, onion, bread crumbs, 1 Tbsp. Parmesan, 1 Tbsp. barsley and 1/4 tsp. each of the salt and pepper. Form into 1" meatballs (about 45) and place on baking sheet. Refrigerate while preparing soup.

2) Combine broth, carrots, escarole and oregano in slow cooker. Gently add meatballs. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours. Stir in pasta for the last 20 minutes of cooking time. Stir in remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Sprinkle each serving with remaining parsley and Parmesan cheese and serve.