Description
Eight bowls of broth with approximately 32 miniature beef meatballs, acini di pepe and spinach.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound Ground beef
- 1 egg Large egg
- 1/3 cup Fine dry breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup Finely grated Parmesan
- 2 cloves Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon Fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 8 cups Low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium onion Yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots Carrots, diced
- 2 stalks Celery stalks, diced
- 3/4 cup Dry acini di pepe pasta
- 5 ounces Baby spinach
Instructions
- Mix 1 lb ground beef with one egg, 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp of the measured salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Form approximately 32 small even meatballs. Brown in 1 tbsp oil in batches about 8–10 minutes total; move to the slow cooker.
- Add 8 cups broth, one diced onion, two diced carrots, two diced celery stalks and remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and cook on LOW approximately 5 hours until vegetables soften and representative meatball centers reach at least 160°F.
- Switch to HIGH and stir in 3/4 cup dry acini di pepe. Cook roughly 20–25 minutes until pasta is tender, checking package and cooker performance; add the 5 oz spinach during the final 5 minutes so it wilts without prolonged cooking.
- Stir and divide among eight bowls with approximately four meatballs each. Document actual number of meatballs, pasta swelling, broth volume and endpoint timing before publishing.
Notes
Recipe-development draft; not kitchen-tested. Timing and yield are estimates. Nutrition has not been calculated.
Untested conservative estimate: brown meatballs 10 minutes, cook low 5 hours, pasta high 25 minutes and spinach 5 minutes; cooker heat-up and pan overlap uncertain.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 340 minutes
- Category: Soups
Nutrition
- Serving Size: One eighth of soup, approximately four small meatballs