Wednesday 26 March 2014

Caprese Tomato Soup with Bocconcini, Spinach and Meatballs



Most food blogs I follow are from bloggers in the United States. It's cold there at the moment, so all these hearty, warm and filling dishes pop up on the screen of my ipad. That includes this soup which I have adapted from Yes, more please

In winter, I make soups all the time. Nothing is easier than making a huge pan of soup for lunch, dividing the soup in sandwich bags and freezing them. In the morning when I am getting ready for work I grab a bag and a tupperware container and when I get to work I put the frozen soup in the container and let it defrost slowly. 

The soups I am making always have some sort of protein in it, generally meatballs. It makes lunch a bit more filling so you won't need any carbs like bread or pasta. I don't eat pre-made soups from the supermarket. I was in a rush the other day and quickly grabbed a bag of soup from the supermarket. It wasn't good. Maybe I have become a soup snob? In any event, this soup is fresh, homemade and delicious. 

I made a large quantity of this soup. With the ingredients below you can make 6-8 portions.

Ingredients
3 good quality cans of tomatoes
4 shallots
4 tbs of olive oil
can of sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped and added to taste
2 garlic cloves
2 bay leafs
water - 3,5 tins (the tomatoes were in)
dry thyme to taste
salt and pepper
a bag of spinach
1 egg
minced meat (pork, veal, beef), as much as you like
two handfuls of breadcrumbs
lots and lots of fresh basil
bocconcini, as much as you like
Balsamic vinegar, to taste

The recipe
First, make the meatballs. Put the mince, the egg, the breadcrumbs and heaps of seasoning in a bowl and mix together. Roll small meatballs and put them in a separate bowl.

In a medium soup pot over medium heat, heat some olive oil and cook half of the shallots. Also add the garlic, the chopped sundried tomatoes and the bay leafs. Saute for 4 minutes or so. Then add some basil, dry thyme, salt and pepper and cook for another minute or so.

Add the cans of tomatoes, and add the water. Bring to the boil. Cook for 8 minutes or so. 

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook the other half of the shallots with the spinach for 4 minutes or so. Take the pan with the soup off the stove and puree the soup with a stickblender. Add balsamic, to taste. Put back on the stove and bring back to the boil. Add some more basil, the meatballs and the spinach mixture. Cook for 5 minutes or so or until the meatballs are cooked.

Add the boccincini balls and cook for 3 minutes or until melted. And there you have it, a big pot of soup and potentially your lunch for the rest of the week. Enjoy!




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