Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Meatballs and Orzo in Broth

The freezing rain is coming down and a fire has been laid in the fireplace. Now it's time for some good comfort food. This is a nice recipe that is part soup, part pasta. I serve it as a main coarse. This recipe uses orzo, a small rice shaped pasta. Serve it with some cheese bread and a salad.

Meatballs and Orzo in Broth

3 (16 oz.) cans fat free, less sodium chicken broth
1 (1 oz.) slice Italian Bread
1/2 cups skim milk
1 lb. ground sirloin
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated and divided
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped + 2 tbs. for garnish
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 cup carrot, shredded
2 cups hot cooked orzo (1 cup uncooked)

Bring broth to simmer in a Dutch oven (don't boil). Keep warm over low heat. Soak the bread in milk for 5 minutes, then squeeze the milk from the bread. Combine bread, beef, minced onion, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. Shape into 24 , 1 1/2 inch, balls. Add meatballs and carrot to the broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 8 minutes. Stir in the orzo and cook for 2 minutes. Serve topped with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am having a dinner party in two weeks and I was looking for a soup recipe. This will work perfectly.
Thanks for sharing! ~hippyg

I put a link to your site on my blog.

Anonymous said...

Good comfort food! Sometimes I add a handful of baby spinach leaves.