Do try out my chunky Italian tomato meatball soup: this is winter comfort food at its very best! You will love this hot soup with fresh tomatoes, sage, carrots and meatballs… Dig in before someone else does!
Filling meal soups, how we love them.
Especially on a cold winter’s day.
This chunky Italian meatball soup for instance is a good example of top shelf comfort food as well. So what would you do if you had some cooked meatballs left from yesterday’s dinner?
I was actually thinking about making a meatball sandwich or funky breakfast fry up. But my initial plan turned into a rich and savory meal soup after seeing what fresh vegetables I still had in my fridge.
Best Italian Tomato Meatball Soup Recipe
If you haven’t got any leftover cooked meatballs, you can make some fresh ones from scratch and then let them cook and poach in the soup right in the end. Feel free to also add dry pasta instead of cooked pasta!
So here is my chunky Italian tomato meatball soup: winter comfort food at its best!
A hot soup with fresh tomatoes, sage, carrots and meatballs… And don’t forget a nice amount of grated parmesan cheese to top it all off with.
Are you ready?
Enjoy!
Best Italian Tomato Meatball Soup Recipe
Do try out my chunky Italian tomato meatball soup: this is winter comfort food at its very best! A hot soup with fresh tomatoes, sage, carrots and meatballs...
- 16 meatballs cooked
- 12,5 oz canned whole tomatoes (350 g)
- 4 ripe large fresh tomatoes chopped
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 medium fresh carrot sliced
- 3 large garlic cloves chopped
- 4 cups chicken stock (920 ml)
- a handful fresh sage leaves
- 1 tbsp dried oregano or basil
- a handful parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt
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Pour olive oil in a high non-stick pan and place it over medium heat. Add the bay leaves, half of the dried basil or oregano and the chopped onion and garlic.
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Fry the ingredients for 3 minutes until fragrant. Add the sliced carrot and the fresh sage. Season with pepper and salt.
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Stir and cook the carrots and onion for 5 minutes. Stir regularly. Add extra olive oil if necessary. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and chicken stock.
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Stir the ingredients and bring the tomato soup to a boil. Turn the heat low and simmer the tomato soup for 40 minutes under a lid. Stir regularly. Add the chopped tomatoes.
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Stir and add extra chicken stock or water if you think the soup is too thick. Check the seasoning and add extra pepper or salt to taste if necessary. Add the rest of the dried basil or oregano as well.
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Stir the tomato soup again. Add the (cooked) meatballs.
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Let the meatballs simmer and poach in the soup until cooked or warmed through. Take the tomato meatball soup off the heat and scoop it into large bowls. Divide the meatballs evenly over the portions. Sprinkle the soup with some grated parmesan cheese and serve hot.
Simple Polpette Olive Capperi
That is about it for my Italian tomato meatball soup.
I guess that this next Italian meatball recipe contains about everything Italian cuisine stands for: pure ingredients, earthy flavors but most of all its simplicity. Look at it: meatballs, capers, olives and white wine.
How easy could it be?
Polpette olive capperi.
Sounds like music to my ears to be honest.
Fresh Basil
I thought about adding a handful of chopped fresh basil in the end.
But now I am happy that I didn’t do that because the dish as it is below really needs no backup whatsoever. Bold flavors. Homemade polpette, vinegary capers, black olives and a gorgeous reduced white wine sauce.
Simple. Pure. And so good.
Lovely.
Enjoy!
Simple Polpette Olive Capperi Recipe
Homemade polpette, vinegary capers, black olives and a gorgeous reduced white wine sauce. Simple. Pure. Delicious.
- 12,5 oz ground beef (350 g)
- ½ red onion chopped
- 2 medium garlic cloves chopped
- 1 tbsp breadcrumbs or panko
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 egg yolk
- 16 black olives
- 2 tbsp capers in brine
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 cup dry white wine (240 ml)
- olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- pepper
- salt
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Transfer the onion, garlic and bay leaves to a saucepan. Add olive oil and season with pepper and salt. Place the pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 8 minutes until nicely browned. Then remove the bay leaves. Let the onion cool. Transfer the beef and egg yolk to a bowl. Then add the cooled onion.
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Knead the mince. Then add the panko, a pinch of pepper and salt and the parmesan cheese.
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Knead the mince. Check the seasoning and add extra pepper or salt. Then roll even meatball. I had 10 meatballs that were 1 ½ oz (45 g) each. Coat them lightly with flour. Then pour another drop of olive oil in large non-stick pan and place it over medium-high heat until hot. Add the meatballs.
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Brown the meatballs for 7 minutes. Then add the fresh rosemary and olives.
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Add the white wine.
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Stir well and then put a lid on the pan. Simmer the meatballs in the wine for 6 more minutes until the wine has reduced into a nice sauce. Then add the salted capers.
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Stir well. Check the seasoning and add extra pepper or salt. Take the pan off the heat and divide the meatballs, olives, capers and wine sauce over plates. Serve immediately.
Italian Style Steak
Another recipe, and again totally different from my Italian tomato meatball soup we started off with.
This Italian style steak recipe reminds me of the fact that I am an absolute carnivore and one of my favorite cuts still is a simple but good (flank) steak like this one, bavette in French.
I like them rare and moist and spot on when it comes to taste and texture. It is also surprising though how hard it may seem to cook a steak perfectly.
It is almost like an art.
I read more about this not that long ago in a book by Australian chef and meat expert Adrian Richardson called Meat, How to Choose, Cook and Eat It.
How to Cook Steak
I was truly amazed how he analysed the whole process of cooking an everyday steak.
A few simple tips that I always use from now on: let the steak rest at room temperature 30 minutes before cooking it. Then gently rub the steak with olive oil because that will prevent oxidation from the blood, followed by baking the steak just once on both sides until the doneness you prefer and don’t flip it over again.
Also let the cooked steak rest for as long as the amount of time you cooked it for, until tinfoil or not: your choice.
Great knowledge in this cookbook a baunch of nd delicious recipes to try out at home.
An absolute foodie must-have!
Enjoy!
Italian Style Steak Recipe
- 2 thick steaks
- sunflower oil
- 4 canned anchovy fillets in oil
- 1 small shallot chopped
- ½ red chili chopped
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- a handful fresh basil
- salt
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1) Marinate the steaks for at least 30 minutes in 4 tbsp sunflower oil, the red chili and the vinegar. Turn regularly.
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2) Pour some sunflower oil in a non-stick pan and place it over high heat until hot. Then sear the marinated steaks for 4 minutes on all sides (or cook them the way you like). Season with salt to taste. Add the remaining marinade at the very last minute.
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3) Then put the cooked steaks onto a plate. Cover with tinfoil and let them rest for a couple of minutes.
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4) Add the shallots to the hot pan and let the anchovy fillets melt into the sauce over medium heat. Stir well.
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5) Place the steaks onto hot plates, drizzle with the spicy sauce and finish with shredded basil and a sprinkle of salt to taste.