The other day I felt like having minestrone. I checked out the fridge, I realized I also had some ground chicken, so I decided to try a new recipe: minestrone with mini chicken meatballs! Hey, that’s how we discover what’s a hit and what’s a miss! My family loved it! So in our book, it’s a hit. I thought you might like to give it a try as well. I hope you do! This serves four or five heaping servings.
Marvelous Minestrone With Mini Chicken Meatballs
Print RecipeIngredients
- Meatball Ingredients
- 1 pound of ground chicken
- 1 pound of egg
- 2 slices of gluten-free plain bread
- ¼ cup of milk of choice
- ½ cup of gluten-free bread crumbs, Italian-flavored
- ¼ cup of grated Italian cheese such as Romano or Parmigiano
- Dash of salt and pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon of ground garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
- 3 tablespoons of canola oil
- Minestrone Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced into ½ slices
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 zucchini, sliced half lengthwise, then cut as carrots were, in ½ in slices
- 1 Idaho Pptato, peeled, then sliced into cubes of about ¾ inch
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 32 ounces of gluten-free chicken broth
- 3 cups of water
- 1 small can of tomatoes, crushed or diced
- 8 ounces of gluten-free small-sized pasta
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Dash of dried parsley flakes
- 2 tablespoons of minced fresh basil
- Dash of ground nutmeg
Instructions
- First, mix the meatballs: soak the bread slices in the milk for a few minutes. While that’s soaking away, combine all of the other meatball ingredients. Then take the wet bread and break, smash with fingertips into “mushy” pieces. You don’t need the crusty ends, mostly, use the centres. Add to the mixture and combine.
- Shape into really small balls, about 1 to 1 ½ inches in size. They’re sticky so perhaps wet fingers in a drop of water to shape.
- In the large soup pot, place the canola oil and when hot, saute the meatballs as much as you can without burning. Using a spoon to turn them over is helpful.
- Remove to a plate when all are golden.
- In the same pot, leaving the oil and bits stuck to the bottom, place the onion and saute for about 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and stir until fragrant. Don’t allow it to burn.
- Next, add the carrots, celery, and occasionally stir for about 5 minutes.
- Add the zucchini next and then the potatoes. Stir in.
- Add the broth, tomatoes and 3 cups of water.
- Re-place the meatballs into the pot.
- Add the spices and beans.
- Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, being careful to stir frequently.
- At this point, add the raw pasta and stir until al dente.
