Chicken Meatball and Tortellini Soup - Tyler Florence

Brookelynne26's Note:

From Dinner at My Place. I know the chicken and apple sausage sounds weird but try to find it. It makes unbelievably good meatballs!

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

Chicken Meatballs

• 4 links organic chicken-apple sausage (or equivalent ground chicken meat)
• 1/2 cup fresh bread, crumbs (2 slices fresh white bread ground up)
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
• extra-virgin olive oil

Soup

• extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 large carrots, cut into circles
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• kosher salt
• 2 quarts reduced- sodium chicken broth
• 4 black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb fresh refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
• grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare meatballs by combining loose ground chicken meat (discard casings, if using sausages), bread crumbs, milk, egg, parsley, and the 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then mix until fully combined. Using a small ice cream scoop, make balls and set on a roasting tray. Drizzle lightly with oil and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano. Roast in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and caramelized.
2. While the meatballs are roasting, prepare the soup. Set a large stockpot over medium heat. Add a 2-count of oil (about 2 tablespoons), the garlic, and thyme. Gently saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add carrot, onion, and celery. Season with salt and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and add peppercorns, the 2 tablespoons parsley, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
3. Once meatballs are cooked, scrape them into the pot of chicken soup and add tortellini. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. Remove peppercorns and bay leaf. Season with salt and peppers and serve in shallow bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Garnish each bowl with a parsley sprig and serve with some torn pieces of crusty bread.

Reviews

[adopt a greyhound]

Loved this soup. Used Chicken Apple Sausage for the sausage. Made half the recipe for the two of us and still had some left over. Excellent and will use all the time.

[Chicagoland Chef du Jour]

3/11 O M G is this good! Using a small cookie scoop I made the balls w/ the chicken mixture and dropped them into the gently boiling soup. No frying (as Tyler suggests) or baking necessary. They turned out PERFECT and had a great texture. Made the soup broth as suggested but I rough chopped all the veggies in the food processor. I like a more rustic look to my soup, and I hate chopping! I boiled 1# tortellini on a separate pot and added to the soup before serving. Overall, AMAZING! This beats any and all chicken soups I have ever made. This ROCKS! Thaks a bunch Brookelynne! UPDATE 2/13: I omitted the tortellini this time and used a mini farfellini, orzo would be good too. Again, boiled separately so everyone could add as much as they like. Just terrific!

[fayelaurel_1623979]

Fantastic! Don't over think it - just get the ingredients and make it. It's a tad time consuming the first time around, but worth it! The next few times I've made it, it was a breeze.