Italian Meatball Soup

Total Time: 27 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 17 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 small onion
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 tablespoon italian seasoning mix
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes in puree
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 16 fully frozen cooked meatballs
• salt
• fresh coarse ground black pepper
• 6 ounces ciabatta or 6 ounces other crusty italian bread
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Recipe

• 1 peel carrots with vegetable peeler. finely chop carrots, celery and onions.
• 2 lightly spray pot(4qt) with oil and add carrots, celery and onion. cook over medium heat 4-5 minutes or until vegetables begin to brown, stirring occasionally.
• 3 push vegetables to one side of pot. add tomato paste; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until paste begins to caramelize.
• 4 add pressed garlic and seasoning; mix well. stir in tomatoes; broth and water; bring to a simmer.
• 5 cut meatballs in half; add to soup. simmer an additional 10-12 minutes; season to taste with salt and black pepper. serve hot and garnish with ciabatta croutons.
• 6 ciabatta croutons:.
• 7 pre heat oven to 425 degrees. slice loaf into 1 inch cubes. toss cubes with olive oil and arrange in an even layer on pan. bake 12-14minutes or until golden brown.