Spaghetti & Meatball Stoup

"Stoup" is a Racheal Ray-ism. It's thicker than soup, but thinner than stew = Stoup.

I've been craving this for a couple of days now. I think I'll make it tonight. It makes KILLER left overs. I've not frozen it yet to see how it does. Then again, it's rarely around long enough to freeze.

Its a quick recipe too. Don't let the list of ingredients fool you. This is totally a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal. I can do it in 40 minutes, but that's because I'm slow making meatballs. Ahhh, actually, I bet you could make extra meatballs, and freeze half. Oh man...I'm gonna do that tonight.

Spaghetti and Meatball "Stoup"

Photo courtesy of Food Network

Courtesy of Rachael Ray
Serves 4

• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped into a small dice
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
• 2 small ribs celery from the heart, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 c tomato sauce or 1 (14-ounce) can plus 1 (8-ounce) can
• 3 c chicken stock
• 1 lb ground beef, pork and veal mix (meatloaf mix) available at butcher counter
• 1/2 cp grated cheese, Parmigiano or Romano
• 1/2 c Italian bread crumbs, a few handfuls
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 T chopped parsley leaves
• 1/2 pound spaghetti, broken in half
• 1 c basil leaves, torn or shredded
• 1 loaf Italian crusty bread, for dunking

Preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, carrots, onions, celery, garlic and sauté 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and stock and cover pot. Turn up heat and bring to a fast boil.

While soup comes to a boil, mix the ground meat with cheese, bread crumbs, egg and parsley. Roll into 1 1/2 to 2-inch balls.

Remove lid from soup and slide balls into soup. Bring back to a boil then stir in spaghetti. Reduce the heat and simmer soup 10 minutes more, until pasta is tender and balls have cooked through. Stir in basil and remove "stoup" from the stove.

Serve soup with bread and cheese.

On a side note, I decided to become my dad temporarily this weekend. I bought onions in bulk and decided to "chop" them and freeze them (in case you don't know me, and my dad, he loves to shop for things in bulk.). Anyhow, chop I did. My eyes watered soooo much that my eyes hurt for a day or so. And frankly, I think they still hurt.