I did it. No one died. Everyone seemed to like it. I’ll put my recipe down here first & the shenanigans after that… because Threads gave me some shenanigans. Trigger warning for Nonnas worldwide:I put brown sugar in jarred sauce. Proceed with caution.
Preheat oven to 375ยฐ (Next time I may do 350ยฐ for a longer time, but we were in a but of a hurry.)
Brown the beef in a pan on the stove with some of all your spices to taste. (I could/should have included onion here.)
Mix the ricotta, one bag of the shredded cheese, the grated parmesan, a bit of the shredded parmesan, the eggs, fresh parsley, & shredded zucchini in a large bowl, again with all the spices including the garlic.
This filled two 9×13″ glass baking dishes for me. I think I layered them both a bit different. Follow your heart. Put sauce on the bottom, sprinkle in some brown sugar, the dry lasagna noodles, the ricotta mixture, the ground beef, some more shredded cheese, more sauce, more noodles, and just keep going. I did put a very little bit of water in the jars of sauce to swirl around & empty more.. and put that into the dishes too. Sprinkled cheese and made sure there was lots of sauce on top of each.
Cover them tightly with foil & put them in the oven for 50 minutes.
Take out, sprinkle on some more of the shredded parmesan, cook for another 10 minutes.
Pull out, rest for a bit, then serve.
Notes:
Like I said, lower & slower next time. Maybe 350ยฐ for an hour then uncover & go for another 15 minutes?
Carrots may be good in with the ground beef… and/or mushrooms?
Maybe spinach in the cheese mixture or as another layer. Let’s get some fiber up in here.
I don’t generally like sausage, but if you do it’d be good here for sure.
What would you do?
๐
Readers, let me tell you… people have feelings about calling that strip of pasta a “lasagna noodle.” There is also the fact that “American” lasagna has ricotta, but traditional does not. I was even told that because I added shredded zucchini it is no longer lasagna. I have made it replacing the pasta with long thinly-sliced zucchini planks and still called it lasagna.
People have lost their damn minds. No one knows that food and language evolve over time and across regions and even households?
I did plug my ingredients list into Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, & Copilot to see what they would churn back out, but honestly I didn’t follow through with any of their advice.
I look forward to your thoughts about lasagna, your tips, tricks & recipes, and the nuance of semantics involving pasta naming conventions in the comments. How do you layer yours? I feel like I need a way deeper pan. Do you go “traditional” and eschew ricotta? Do you call lasagna noodles lasagna noodles or are you pretentious?
This is becoming a trend. I want to make a sandwich and don’t have the appropriate bread or bun. Thankfully, this lack of planning for a meatball sub brought forth the almighty Meatball Club (the Meatball Melt isn’t bad either). This was not a bad alternative, if I do say so myself.
I made some of my grilled chicken noodle soup that we had with a salad for dinner last night. I had some leftovers for lunch today and wanted a lil’ sandwich to go with it. Not much beats a local mom n’ pop pizza shop Italian Sub. I had some almost sort of close enough ingredients in the house, so I crafted my own.
In my humble opinion, the key to a great local sub shop Italian Sub is the toasting. The second key is to call it a sub and not a hoagie, grinder, hero or whatever other word yinz have for it. Maybe this would be less a Subwich and more a Submersible?
I didn’t have a sub roll, but I did have the super cheap hamburger buns. That worked, because it was lunch time and I didn’t need a foot long sandwich anyway.
The Italian …Subwich?
Here’s what I did…
I preheated the oven to 400ยฐ and gathered all my stuff.
I melted some butter & EVOO with garlic powder, onion powder, & Italian seasoning in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl.
I spread the butter on the insides of the bun, sprinkled on a tiny bit of shake cheese, and toasted it inside up in the oven for 5 minutes on a sheet pan.
I stacked the cold cuts, cheese, & veggies like this from the bottom up on the bottom bun: Turkey, hard salami, provolone cheese, ham, hard salami, jarred roasted red peppers, sliced black olives, shredded Parmesan from a tub,
I put a slice of provolone on the inside of the top bun.
I put it back in the oven for 6 minutes.
I took it out & assembled the sandwich.
I brushed a little more melted butter/spices on the top, and put it back in… this time on convection at 350ยฐ for two minutes because why not?
I bought it out and it definitely gave me mom n’ pop pizza shop vibes. Those slightly burnt edges make it kick.
My wife likes the Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing & some mayo on hers. If you’re going to comment that you don’t like back olives, can’t eat roasted red peppers, or would add onions, lettuce, & tomato… I’ll lift the weight off of your shoulders and ask how you’d make this yours?
If you are here to say bread, meat, or cheese are not for you and/or ask what you can substitute, I’ll say “Bean Soup” to you.
I asked Gemini to pull out an ingredient list, and it did this whole ass thing, so I’ll paste it all below for the “jump to the recipe” crowd. It’s funny how it says to slice the bun like this isn’t the ~$1 pack of 8 from Aldi. It does know what “shake cheese” is though. Do other people call it that, or just me? It adds some wild stuff all inferred from my text above.
Ingredients
This is for one sandwich, but is easily scalable for a crowd!
The Butter Brush & Dressing
1 Sub Bun (or your favorite hoagie roll)
2 Tbsp Butter (unsalted or salted)
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
2-3 Tbsp Sweet Italian Dressing (or another vinaigrette of your choice)
1-2 tsp “Shake Cheese” (the grated Parmesan from a container)
The Filling
2 Slices Provolone Cheese
3-4 Slices Turkey (deli slices)
3-4 Slices Ham (deli slices)
6-8 Slices Hard Salami (layered)
2 Tbsp Jarred Roasted Red Peppers (drained)
1 Tbsp Sliced Black Olives
1-2 Tbsp Shredded Parmesan (from a tub, for texture)
Wife’s Variation (Optional)
Roasted Red Pepper Italian Dressing
Mayonnaise
Instructions
1. Preheat and Prep the Butter
Preheat your oven to 400ยฐF.
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter and EVOO together.
Stir in the garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Set aside.
2. Toast the Bun
Slice your bun open and lay both halves on a sheet pan, inside-up.
Brush a generous layer of the seasoned butter mix onto the insides of both buns.
Sprinkle the insides with a tiny bit of the “shake cheese”.
Toast the buns in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.
3. Build the Base
Remove the buns from the oven.
Pour a drizzle of the Sweet Italian Dressing onto the inside of both bunsโdon’t saturate it, just a light coat.
On the bottom bun, stack the cold cuts, cheese, and veggies in this order:
Turkey
Hard Salami
One Slice of Provolone Cheese
Ham
Hard Salami
Jarred Roasted Red Peppers
Sliced Black Olives
Shredded Parmesan
Place the second slice of provolone cheese directly on the inside of the top bun (it will act as a shield and melt beautifully).
4. Melt and Warm
Put both halves of the sandwich (still separate) back in the oven for 6 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Carefully remove the sheet pan and assemble the sandwich by placing the top bun onto the bottom.
5. The Final Kick
Take it out, slice it, and enjoy!
Brush a little more of the remaining melted butter/spices right onto the top crust of the sandwich.
(Optional, but highly recommended) Turn the oven to Convection at 350ยฐF and pop the sandwich back in for 2 minutes. This gives you those amazing, slightly crispy, burnt edges that make the sandwich sing.
I really like to make my own meatballs. Sometimes there store bought frozen ones are fine. Sometimes you intend to have a meatball sub, and end up making a meatball club. (I like my meatballs with lasagna & in wedding soup too.)
The other day we needed a quick dinner so frozen meatballs it was. Still gotta make it good though, right? I like a toasted sandwich bun…. with meatball subs, meatball clubs, pulled pork BBQ, chipped ham BBQ, sloppy Joes, & more.
Ooey Gooey Toasty Meatball Sub
I had ChatGPT help me format my recipe from my ramblings…
Cheesy Meatball Subs with Garlic-Herb Toasted Buns Servings: 2 | Prep: 10 min | Cook: 15โ20 min
Ingredients:
8 frozen meatballs
2 sub rolls
2โ3 tbsp butter, melted
ยฝ tsp garlic powder
ยฝ tsp onion powder
ยฝ tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp parsley
1 cup jarred marinara sauce
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
2 tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (plus extra for topping)
Black pepper, to taste
4โ6 sliced black olives (plus extra for topping)
2 slices provolone cheese
ยผ cup shredded mozzarella
Instructions:
Cook the meatballs according to package instructions.
Preheat oven to 357ยฐF (180ยฐC). Mix melted butter with garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Slice rolls and brush the butter mixture onto the cut sides. Sprinkle with Parmesan/Romano and some sliced black olives. Toast for 5 minutes.
Warm marinara in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, Parmesan/Romano, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Place 4 meatballs per bun. Spoon sauce over the meatballs. Add additional olives, provolone slice, and shredded mozzarella.
Return assembled subs to the oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Let cool slightly, then serve and enjoy!
Apparently canned black olives are polarizing here according to social media. Would roasted red peppers be acceptable? What about sauteed green peppers or onions? Mushrooms?
What do you do to spice up your quick go-to meals? What do you like on your subs? Yes, I put sugar in jarred marinara sauce. Tell your Nonna to calm down with the carrots and the baking soda. I like the sweetness and the acidity cut. I also use jarred minced garlic occasionally.
Quick Edit to add, had these for lunch today with the leftovers:
So, today I felt like cooking. We recently came back from a weekend at a cabin and a week at camp. We had a bunch of new stuff ready in the garden, and some stuff past ready.
Here are three quick recipes that I posted on Instagram. The Poblano peppers, banana peppers, straightneck squash, and snap beans were grown in our garden.
Well, that turned out well. Got some poblano from the garden this week. I mixed some bacon bits, minced garlic, shredded cheddar cheese, and steak seasoning into some cream cheese, cut the peppers in half, stuffed with the peppers with the mixture, sprinkled more cheddar on top, wrapped with bacon, & baked on a sheet pan at 375ยฐ for 40 min.
Some fresh snap beans from the garden. Steamed, then tossed in with some sautรฉed mushrooms, French fried onions, minced garlic, a pinch or 2 of flour & fresh cooked bacon pieces. (Used the leftovers from the peppers.)
Had some straightneck squash that grew a bit too big while we were at camp. I had it in my head to prepare it sort of like eggplant parmesean & fried zucchini. I didn’t want the stacked lasagna version, I wanted something with a bit of crunch.
I sliced then up, dredged in flour/cornstarch, egg/buttermilk. & coated in regular & panko breadcrumbs with a bit of parmesan “shake cheese” mixed in. I seasoned each step with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, & black pepper.
I baked them for about 25 or 30 min. on 400ยฐ, then topped with provolone & mozzarella slices & a bit more parmesan. They went back in for 10 min.
Served with bowtie pasta & covered in our favorite slightly doctored sauce.
Added the needed flavor to the overgrown squash and I actually preferred the consistency to eggplant.
๐ฅ๐ง๐ถ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐
All in all, I was really pleased with the results, and I think the family was too.
Do you have some good recipes, tips, & tricks for these garden ingredients?
First, the recipe.ย Then, the story.ย ‘Cause the other way around is a thing that everyone hates now.
Lasagna & Meatballs
I don’t measure much.ย I had stuff from Aldi, Shop ‘n Save, & Giantย Eagle by the time I was done.ย The kids helped.ย They have been into helping to cook lately.ย We like meatballs on the side, not meat sauce in the lasagna.ย Get out of here with your sausage or pork or pepperoni too, this is BEEF territory.
We eventually decided on…
Ingredients:
A box of no-bake lasagna noodles from Aldi.
A 2ยฝ lb. package of ground beef from Aldi.
Fresh spinach from Shop ‘n Save.
Fresh parsley from Giant Eagle (could’t order it from Aldi or Shop ‘n Save via Instacart.)
A tiny tub of Ricotta from Aldi.ย (Instacart size fail.)
A giant tub of Ricotta from Giant Eagle.
2 Aldi zucchini.
A 2-cup bag of “Italian Blend” cheese from Aldi.
A 1ยฝ cup bag of shredded parmesan & romano cheese from Giant Eagle.
A 1ยฝ cup bag of shredded mozarella cheese from Gaint Eagle.
2 eggs
“Shake cheese” – Used both Parmesan & a Parmesan Romano blend.
A bag of “Italian Seasoning” croutons from Aldi.
Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing.
3 jars of the cheap Aldi marinara sauce.ย (It is way better than the supposedly more delicious and expensive ones.)
Condensed Tomato Soup
Brown Sugar
Various spices no, I didn’t measure:
“Italian Seasoning” {Whatever that is.)
Dried spice-rack Parsely
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
White Pepper
Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Whatever Aldi “Seasoned Salt” that looks like the Lawry’s Seasoned Salt bottle or McCormick Season All is.
๐ก๏ธ Cook temp:ย 400ยฐ F
โฑ Prep time:ย This isn’t Food Network, All Recipes, or Martha Stewart & Snoop Dogg.ย How do I know?ย I had a 6 year old and a 4 year old helping.ย So, it was slow.
โฒ Cook time: 20 to 25 min. for the meatballs.ย (Cook to a temperature, not a time.ย The USDA says ground beef needs to be 160ยฐ F so you don’t die or something.ย Get a food thermometer.)ย 45 min. covered in foil for the lasagna, 15 min. uncovered.
Method:
Get out all your pots, pans, utensils, cutting boards, and stuff before you cook.ย If you have children helping, get paper towels.ย Get the ingredients out.ย Wash your hands.ย Wash the eggs.ย We used 2 large mixing bowls, and an inordinate amount of oddly shaped glass baking dishes.
Chop the parsley & spinach like a madman (or mad woman, or mad person of a non-specific gender).ย Have the kids help.ย They love sharp knives.ย It’s important that they respect them and that you watch closely.ย Very closely.ย We sometimes use one of those still sharp plastic lettuce knives for stuff like this.ย I didn’t measure.ย We used about the whole bunch of parsley & a handful and a half of spinach.
Slice up that zucchini as thinly as possible.ย I don’t have a mandolin, so I did that instead of the kids.ย Actually, I would still do that if we had a mandolin.
We divided the parsley & spinach about equally into the 2 mixing bowls.ย I talked about that thing where you add the same flavors across different dishes to tie them together, but I have no idea what the word for that is.
In the meatball bowl, we tossed in the ground beef & the croutons.ย We smashed the croutons first.ย Oh, that was fun.ย It probably got out of hand, but the bag didn’t pop.
We also poured in some Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing in the meatballs.ย Amount?ย Yes.ย Until it looked good.ย This is one thing I won’t bend on.ย It is far more superior that any other Italian dressing.
The we dropped in some Italian Blend shredded cheese & some shake cheese.ย Measuring is for the timid.ย Eyeball it.ย Use the force, let it guide you.
Mix it with your hands, roll into balls, and pop in into a glass baking dish, or 3 odd little ones.ย We spaced them out.ย I mean, you could use a baking sheet, and I used to prefer them in the electric skillet, but this is so easy.ย We put all of the above spices in there too.ย And sprinkled a bit on the outside once formed.
We washed out hands again, and I set that in the oven & set the timer for 23 minutes because I couldn’t decide between 20 or 25.
We poured the marinara & tomato soup in a pot, added some brown sugar (just a bit), shake cheese, parsley & italian seasnonings, & garlic.
The kids stirred that.ย And stirred that.ย And stirred that.
We put the ricotta in the 2nd mixing bowl already containing spinach & parsley.
Add eggs, the rest of the “Italian Blend” cheese bag, some shake cheese, and some minced garlic… and whatever spices you want.ย I told the kids here about depth of flavor in using the dried parsley vs. the fresh parsley and minced garlic vs the garlic powder… but I don’t know if they were paying attention.ย They had just cracked eggs and we were about to mess with a giant gooey bowl of cheese.
Go easy on that white pepper if you have it.ย It goes a loooong way.
Spread the sauce on the bottom of your biggest glass baking dish.
We layed out the no-boil noodles.ย It was my first time using them.ย I think it went pretty well.ย They fit 4 across and 1 at the end in our pan.
On top of the noodles we did half of the ricotta mixture, the Parmesan/Romano shredded cheese, the zucchini, sauce, more noodles, the rest of the ricotta mixture, the shredded Mozzarella cheese, sauce, noodles, more sauce, and a mix of the Parmesan/Romano & Mozzarella cheeses.
We like cheese.ย The kids tasted the different shred varieties as we layered.ย Ian liked the Parmesan/Romano & Molly liked the Mozzarella.
I covered that in foil & put it in the oven for 45 minutes.ย Then I uncovered it & let it go for 15 minutes.
The extra sauce goes on the meatballs.
Ooh.ย I snuck the story in on you didn’t I?ย Wow.ย Would you like to speak to the manager?ย You might like my other blogs about meatballs or meatloaf or wedding soup… or any of my food stuff.ย The kids went absolutely primate-poop over the meatballs.ย The no-boil noodles were fine.ย I liked that they were al dente.ย There was enough liquid that I didn’t add any like the box suggested.ย Be a rebel!ย (OK, I asked for opinions on FB for that first on my page & in an Aldi recipe group.)
So, I have always wanted to make wedding soup, but have never tried it. ย Until now. ย Skip to the end if you just want the recipe and none of my shenanigans.
Wedding Soup ร la AiXeLsyD13
Wedding soup recipesย abound on the internet.ย Some people are vehement that theirs is the “right” way.ย Apparently the inclusion of pasta is a beans-in-chili-like debate.ย I would guess that it depends on your region, heritage, and family traditions.ย I have none of these ties.ย I’m just a yinzer that likes food. ย I did reach out via Facebook to see how others do it. ย I wanted to try to make the soup because of the tiny pasta, I think.ย I may have also made some other “controversial” decisions.
Pasta. ย Even though real Italians apparently don’t include pasta in their soup, I am not Italian. ย Not remotely, even. ย Seriously. ย My wife got me the DNA thing for my birthday a few years back and I’m apparently super English,ย Scottish, Welsh, & Irish with a bit of Scandinaviaย and the Iberian Peninsula thrown in. ย I had to Google the Iberian Peninsula. So, as a Yinzer I am making a stand with pasta in the wedding soup because that’s how I have seen it. ย Orzo looked too much like rice,and rice in soup is gross. ย (I know, it is an entirely different consistency. ย Just accept the fact that rice in soup is gross, you’re wrong if you disagree, and read on.) ย I did most of my shopping at Aldi, but they had no tiny pasta… so I went to Giant Eagle and got Acini De Pepe. ย I could have also easily gone with what Barilla calls Pastinaย (neat tiny stars!) and apparently is not even a thing or it’s a generic thing.
If I would sub out cheese tortellini/farfalle for pastini/acini de pepe in the wedding soup, I could get all my ingredients at @AldiUSA. #fb
— แกส๊ โ ษXiA ฦiะฏฦ ๐ธ (@AiXeLsyD13) April 22, 2017
I chose to make the meatballs myself, because I like making meatballs.ย They’re big-ass meatballs because I have poor portion control and couldn’t use the mellon-baller to effectively help reel it in, and who wants a little tiny meatball anyway?ย I used beef, because cows are tasty.ย ย ย I typically don’t do the lamb/veal/pork mix in any meatballs or meatloaf, so why start now?ย I also opted for ground beef in lieu of chicken or turkey, because beef.ย Sheep are for making blankets, not eating… unless you like eating meat that tastes like wool blankets.
In my meatballs, I use Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing & crushed seasoned croutons.ย I also tossed in some extra spices (onion & garlic powder, salt, pepper, and whatever “Italian Seasoning” is), two eggs, and parmesan/romano “shake cheese.” ย (Does anyone else call it that?) ย I generally crush the croutons with my hands, but since I was apathetically trying to make smaller meatballs and my 3yo was my helper, I put someย in a sandwich baggie and smashed to crap out of them with the shake-cheese bottle. ย Why use bread crumbs when you can smash stuff? ย I could totally skip the dressing & toss in whatever spices… but I tried this one time with meatballs to go with spaghetti or lasagna and we liked it, so it stuck. ย We cooked them in 2 frying pans, because it seemed quick. ย I like to bake meatballs sometimes too. ย This really could be a 7-day damn project of soup.
A lot of wedding soup recipes call for shredded chicken. ย I never really noticed it in the wedding soups I had eaten until at a recent wedding where they left the chicken in sizable chunks. ย Maybe it was an accident? ย I have no idea, but I liked it. ย I felt like I was taking a bite of something instead of creepy little chicken strings being used as a garnish. ย Also, I decided to cheat and not make stock… or I probably would have roasted then boiled the shit out of a chicken carcass and produced some shredded chicken as well as tasty stock. ย I grilled the chicken in the manliest way possible outdoors over an open flame like our cavemen ancestors. ย OK, I cooked it on a counter-top paniniย grill and attempted to give it some nice criss-crossed grill lines before letting it cool and cutting it into “cubes” with less knife skills than Stevie Wonder. ย I wanted to know I was eating chicken. ย I probably put some seasonย salt on it.
I made a mirepoix, I think. ย I put some butter in the bottom of the soup pot, and heated up some finely chopped carrots, celery (stalks and some of the leafy top), onion, & a bit of parsley and the lazy-people chopped-up-already in a jar garlic. ย Did those last two mess up the mirepoix? ย Salt and pepper went in there too, because the Food Network says to season every step or something like that.
Then I added some random boxes of stock & broth from Aldi. ย Really. ย I couldn’t decide. ย So, I got lowfat (that’s all they had) chicken stock, chicken broth, and low sodium chicken broth. ย They were all those creepy giant juice-boxish containers that no doubt every chicken aspires to reside in someday. ย I almost bought a vegetable stock, but didn’t. ย How do you get vegetable stock anyway? ย Isn’t that just broth? ย Isn’t the difference between stock & broth the inclusion of bones?
After that, I added the meatballs and chicken and let it boil for a bit. ย Maybe on like 7 or 8? ย I hate when recipes say “medium-high” heat. ย Give me a number, damnit. ย There are numbers on my oven. ย Are they there for no reason? ย How long? ย I don’t know. ย Long enough to chop up the “fresh” spinach.
I went for the fresh spinach in a plastic box at Aldi. ย I didn’t see any with the produce, didn’t catch it in frozen, and bought a can as backup just in case. ย They didn’t have any endive or escarole that I noticed. ย I wasn’t sure about Kale but may try that next time. ย I probably could have added the canned spinach too… it could have used a bit more maybe? ย Although, my meatball helper who crushed about 4 or 5 meatballs after we cooked them wasn’t a big fan of the soup itself because “big kids don’t like spinach sometimes.” ย She will eat pasta, grilled chicken, carrots, and meatballs all day every day. ย But the spinach was a no-go I guess. ย I think I added about 4 cups of water and 2 chicken bullion cubes in there somewhere.
I added the spinach and the box of acini de pepe at the same time. ย I let it go for the recommended 9 minutes. ย I know I had been advised to not do it that way. ย Cooking the pasta separately first then adding the rest of the soup over it in a bowl would be the level-headed thing to do. ย I was ready to eat by that point though, so in it went.
It was delicious on the first run if I do say so myself. ย Upon having leftovers, the acini de pepe swelled to ridiculous proportions. ย Ha ha. ย Next time I will cook the pasta first or only use half of a box. ย Or, I will do it the same way and have wedding pasta. ย Your soup means nothing to me! ย My total meat and carb domination can not be culled.
Well, on to the recipe if you even made it this far:
Non-Italian Wedding Soup Recipe:
This is not your ordinary recipe. ย I don’t measure much. ย I just throw stuff into a pot, especially with meatballs and soup. ย Obviously, use whatever you have on hand. ย Make substitutions. ย This is a recipe in the loosest sense of the word. ย This is how I did it this time. ย I may do it different next time. ย There probably are some good details above that I neglected to mention down here.
The Meatballs:
3 lb. Ground beef (I think it was 80/20?)
Seasoned Croutons (grab your favorite)
Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing
Seasonings
2 eggs, beaten.
Parmesan/Romano “shake cheese”
One day when making meatballs, I grabbed the dressing & croutons because they were on the counter. ย We were probably having salad with our spaghetti or lasagna. ย It’s just breadcrumbs & oil with some seasonings in it. ย I usually smash the croutons by hand, but crushed some of these with a plastic sandwich bag & the Parmesan cheese container since I was trying to make smaller(ish) meatballs. ย I added some more ย spices (see below) with the beaten egg, and mixed the meatballs by hand. ย I used a fancy mellon-baller with an ice-cream-scoop like trigger mechanism that my mom had given me for a few of them, to measure… but they got out of hand easily and I had my 3yo helping. ย So, they were probably bigger than they needed to be. ย How much dressing and croutons? ย Eye it. ย I do. ย I like meatballs that are mostly meat, not bread.
The Soup:
A few handsful of Carrots (I started with the baby-cut ones because the kids snack on them.)
Maybe โ of a bunchย Celery? (I chopped up the stalks & some leaves.)
An Onion
Fresh Parsley
Spinach – I got a box of the “fresh” stuff from Aldi.
Grilled & poorly diced Chicken Breasts (I did mine on the panini grill)
Home-Made Meatballs (…or use frozen ones from the store.)
3ย creepy juice-box-like broth/stock containers. I literally got 3 different kinds of chicken broth.
4-sh cups water
2 chicken bullion cubes
Minced garlic in Olive Oil (because I’m lazy & don’t want to mince my own.)
Butter (enough to cover the bottom of your soup pot when it melts)
Parmesan/Romano “shake cheese”
Shredded Parmesan (Aldi had a fancy little container.)
De Cecco Acini De Pepe
I started out with the butter melting on the bottom of the soup pot, then added the carrots, celery, onion, & some parsley. ย I sauteed that for a bit, then dumped in the 3 weird juice boxes of chicken broth/stock over top of that and brought it to a boil. ย I reduced the heat a bit, and added the chicken and meatballs. ย I let it getย back to a boil and added some of the shredded Parmesan & Parmesan/Romano shake cheese to the broth. ย I let that simmer for a bit and eventually added -ish more cups of water and 2 chicken bullion cubes. ย (Maybe beef bullion would have been cool here?) ย Once that boiled again, I added the pasta & spinach & boiledย for another 9 minutes. ย It was tasty. ย I burned my tongue. ย Let it cool. ย Be patient.
Spices…
Season All
Paprika
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Crushed Black Pepper
Sea salt
White Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Parsley Flakes
When I refer to seasonings or spices, it could have been any combination of these. ย I just grab & shake whenever.
Please, let me know if you tried your own inspired by this one. ย Let me know if you do your own a totally different way. ย Let me know what I did right, or let me know what I did “wrong.” ย Thanks for reading!
World (and Lunar) Domination 