Soup to fill you up...

Right after Thanksgiving, I made sure to go to a few different markets around town to see what they had left for turkeys. I found some fresh ones at a killer price and picked up a couple to debone. I do this to make my own ground turkey and turkey stock to store in the freezer - so much cheaper than paying upwards of $4-5 a pound the pre-ground meat costs! I can also mix and match dark with white meat to help keep the white meat moist while cooking.

I needed some of that ground turkey for tonight's dinner of Spinach and Orzo Soup with Turkey Parmesan Meatballs. The turkey meatballs are held together and flavored with a combination of an egg, panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic and spices. To help the process of shaping and dividing out the meat, I used a tablespoon cookie scoop which made this a breeze to complete. If they start to stick, dip the scoop in some water and continue on. Another bonus with this method is you also get a head start on shaping them into balls! I did veer a bit from the original recipe - instead of using escarole, we went ahead and used a more mild spinach. The recipe also called for cooking the meatballs in the broth and while I'm sure that works well, I wanted to add a bit more depth and texture. We caramelized and cooked them most of the way in a skillet before adding them into the soup to finish. Chicken broth is the base of the soup with the addition of chunky carrots and orzo to round out the dish. Being bulked up with pasta and meatballs, this soup was a very filling main dish - even though we don't repeat many recipes, this will have to be made many more times to enjoy during the upcoming winter season.

Recipes
Spinach and Orzo Soup with Turkey Parmesan Meatballs