Italian Wedding Soup Win!

The Champ!

Kris won the soup contest at Big Al's tonight.
The flavor picked randomly last week was "Italian Wedding Soup." We googled a bunch of recipes and settled on The Barefoot Contessa's as a starting point. The one thing we weren't sure of was its use of ground chicken, which tends to be low in flavor, and chicken sausage, which can introduce flavors we're not sure of. One thing we especially liked is that the meatballs were baked separately, and once they were cooked enough to be safe and to have structural integrity, only then were they added to the broth to start sharing flavors.
The basic recipe (I'll leave out quantities, since your interpretation should depend on the particulars of your ingredients and preferences):
Make the Meatballs:

• Some Ground bison
• Ground Veal
• An egg (we used a home-grown egg from Steve and Sherry - thanks!)
• Parmesan cheese
• A little parsley
• Bread crumbs
• Salt & Pepper

Cook on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 350 F.

Prepare the Broth:

• Chicken broth
• Carrots
• Onions
• Celery
• Dill
• Pasta (we used tiny stars).

Sherry, Steve and Egglaying Girl

Saute the veggies in olive oil for six minutes, then add the broth, dill and pasta. Boil to cook the pasta. Add meatballs and baby spinach.

Serve!

The competition was fierce this week, as each competitor had a slightly different idea and flavor. However when the ballots were all counted, Kris came out ahead and was awarded a beer. A good time was had by all!

Next week: beef and barley. We're planning already!