User Friendly Meatball Soup

With a full pantry, a freezer bag of meatballs, and a handful of pasta, you can make a really filling soup. Of course this soup can also be made with fresh or frozen veggies, canned was just what I had one night when I needed dinner in a hurry. ETA after a few reviews mentioned this: We like our soups very thick, more like stews than soups. If you like more liquid in your soup, you're going to want to add one to three cans of water according to the reviewers, because the pasta will soak almost all of the liquid while it cooks.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1  lb  meatballs, I use User Friendly Meatballs
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  cup  chicken stock
• 1 (15 ounce) can  diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole canned tomatoes, cut up, undrained
• 1 (15 ounce) can  mixed vegetables, undrained
• 15  ounces water
•  salt and pepper
• 3  cups rotini pasta
• 2  tablespoons fresh basil, minced
• 1  tablespoon fresh oregano, minced

Directions

1. Using a big soup pot on medium high heat, warm up the meatballs. If there is some fat still frozen to them, you will not need to add any oil, but if you froze them without fat or are using storebought, you will need to add some olive oil to get this started.
2. Once the meatballs are good and warmed, add in the garlic and saute just until you start smelling it, about a minute. Don’t burn the garlic! *grins*.
3. Next add the cans, the stock, and the water, and bring to a boil.
4. Drop the heat and keep your soup at a simmer for at least 5 minutes. At this point your soup can simmer for hours (and if you aren’t using canned veggies, you will want to simmer it a while).
5. About 10 minutes before you want to serve, add the pasta and season to taste. When you are ready to serve, turn off the heat and stir in the fresh herbs.