Italian Sausage Meatball Soup

Mmmmm mmmmm Good!!!!  I honestly didn't think this soup was going to turn out very well, but by gosh by golly, it did!  I do have to warn you, it's spicy!  The Italian Sausage makes this dish into a "nose-runner," but I promise it's worth it!

I do have one complaint with this soup.  The marble sized meatballs (which I was SO excited for my daughter to see) took FOREVER to make!  I spent at least 45 minutes last night rolling them and browning them.  So, when I make this recipe again, I will definitely do it when I have much more time on my hands in the evening!  The last week of school, when I'm exhausted was just not the best time!  Oh well, you live and learn!  Oh, and my daughter.......didn't even try a single meatball! :(  SO sad!

Here's the good stuff:

Italian Sausage Meatball Soup

Meatball Ingredients:

1 lb. Italian Sausage, removed from the casing

1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

1 egg

1 Tbsp. dried onion

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Soup Ingredients:

8 cups Chicken Broth

4 cups water

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Other Ingredients to add later:

1 1/2 cups mini shell noodles

8 oz. bag spinach

grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Mix all of the Meatball ingredients for the meatballs together except the Olive Oil.  Roll into marble sized meatballs.  Heat Olive Oil in a pan and brown meatballs.  

In the Slow Cooker, mix all the soup ingredients.  Add the meatballs.  Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

1/2 hour before you are ready to serve, add the noodles.  When noodles are tender, add the spinach, stir and serve your soup with a little grated Parmesan on top!  Voila!  Bon Appetit!

Tips:

Make the meatballs ahead of time.  I made the meatballs and then stored them overnight in the fridge.  You could make these meatballs and freeze them, then pull them out of the freezer when you were ready to use them.  I also assembled all the soup ingredients into the Slow Cooker insert the night before.  In the morning, all I had to do was put the liner into the Slow Cooker, add the Meatballs and turn it on!