Mini Meatball Minestra Rachael Ray Food

MINI MEATBALL MINESTRA

Steps:

• In a heavy bottomed soup pot heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add onions and 2 cloves of garlic and saute 4 to 5 minutes then add the escarole and wilt. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in beans, add stock and water and bring to boil.
• While stock comes to a boil, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, milk, a handful of cheese, fennel, allspice, parsley, salt and pepper. Combine and roll into 1-inch balls, and add to the soup. Cook 2 minutes then add in pasta and cook 6 minutes more.
• Turn off the heat, garnish with lemon zest and serve with cheese passed at the table.

MINI SAUSAGE MEATBALL MINESTRA

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Roll the sausage into walnut-sized meatballs. Drop them into the skillet and brown on all sides, then remove them to a plate.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, then add the escarole and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, to taste. Cook until the escarole has wilted. Add the beans and cook until heated through. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil, then add the pasta and cook to al dente.
• Return the meatballs back to the pot for the last 4 minutes of cooking. Adjust the seasonings and ladle into serving bowls. Heavily sprinkle each serving with cheese and serve with crusty bread for mopping.

MINI MEATBALL MINESTRA (RACHAEL RAY)

Steps:

• In a heavy bottomed soup pot heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add onions and 2 cloves of garlic and saute 4 to 5 minutes then add the escarole and wilt. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in beans, add stock and water and bring to boil.
• While stock comes to a boil, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, milk, a handful of cheese, fennel, allspice, parsley, salt and pepper. Combine and roll into 1-inch balls, and add to the soup. Cook 2 minutes then add in pasta and cook 6 minutes more. Turn off the heat, garnish with lemon zest and serve with cheese passed at the table.

MINI MUTTBALLS AND DITALINI

Steps:

• In a large, deep skillet or saucepan, bring the broth to a boil, then salt it and lower to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the ground meat, eggs, carrots, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley and garlic paste, if using; season with pepper. Form into 1-inch balls.
• Drop the meatballs into the broth and simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pasta and cook until al dente, 6 to 7 minutes. Let cool before serving to your pooch! Season the people's portions with salt and pepper and sprinkle with more Parmigiano-Reggiano.

MINI MEATBALL SOUP

Steps:

• In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg.
• Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot. You are making meat dumplings that will cook in the broth. When you are done rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes. When pasta is tender, stir in chopped spinach in batches. When spinach has wilted into the soup, the soup is done and ready to serve. Adjust your seasonings. Serve soup with crusty bread or grilled 4 cheese sandwiches.
• In a small skillet over medium low heat, combine oil, butter and garlic. Cook garlic in butter and oil gently for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove garlic butter mixture from heat.
• Place a large nonstick skillet on the stove over medium high heat. Using a pastry brush, brush 1 side of 4 slices of bread with garlic oil and place buttered side down in skillet. Top each slice with equal amounts of the 4 cheeses, distributing them equally over the 4 slices. Top each sandwich with another slice of bread brushed with garlic butter, buttered side up. Flip the grill cheese sandwiches a few times until cheeses are melted and gooey and bread is toasty and golden. Cut grilled 4 cheese sandwiches from corner to corner and serve.

MINESTRA

Steps:

• In a deep, large, heavy pot over moderate heat, saute garlic and pancetta in extra-virgin olive oil for 3 minutes. Add onions and cook 1 or 2 minutes longer.
• Add the greens and wilt them down to fit them all in the pot. Add beans, broth, and nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook over moderate to medium-high heat for 12 minutes, or until greens are no longer bitter. Serve with shaved cheese, bread, and good red wine.

MINESTRA WITH BEEF AND PORK POLPETTE

Steps:

• Heat extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and render a couple of minutes, then add the onions and sliced garlic and potato - if you prefer pasta, add later when you reheat the soup. Season the onions, garlic, and potatoes with salt and pepper and add a bay leaf. Cook to soften, and then add the escarole to the pot and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, cover to wilt. Stir in the cannellini beans and stock plus 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a rolling simmer.
• Meanwhile, douse bread with milk to soften. Place ground meats in bowl. Season the meat with salt and pepper, fennel, paprika, crushed red pepper, cheese, and parsley. Add the yolk to the bowl, squeeze the milk out of the bread and crumble to add to the meat. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and roll meat into walnut-size balls, then add to soup and poach until cooked through.
• Cool completely and store soup for make-ahead meal. To reheat the soup: Place in a covered pot and bring to a boil, add the pasta to cook to al dente if you prefer the pasta to potato. Serve soup in shallow bowls with shredded cheese on top and an extra drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Crust up some bread in hot oven while soup reheats for mopping.

FAKE-BAKED ZITI

Steps:

• Put pasta water on to boil. Add salt and pasta to boiling water and
• cook until pasta is "Al Dente" (a little chewy). While pasta cooks,
• melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour, then cook 1
• minute, adding salt, pepper and nutmeg to flour. Add milk and bring
• sauce to a bubble. Reduce for 5 minutes. Turn on low heat and add shredded
• cheeses to sauce and stir until cheese is melted.
• 2. Drain pasta and transfer to a large casserole dish. Pour tomato
• sauce over pasta and toss until pasta is evenly coated. Pour cheese sauce
• over pasta. Cover the top with sliced fresh mozzarella. Place dish under
• broiler for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.

SPAGHETTI ALLA CECI (SPAGHETTI WITH CHICKPEAS) - RACHAEL RAY

Steps:

• In a large pot, boil the water for pasta, salt it, and cook spaghetti according to package directions to al dente.
• While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add extra-virgin olive oil (3 Tbsp, which she describes as "3 turns of the pan") crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic.
• Drain the canned garbanzo beans, then put them in the food processor and pulse-grind them to a fine chop.
• Add chopped garbanzos to the pan and season with thyme, salt, and pepper then sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add starchy water from the cooking pasta and broth (or wine) and cook down for about 30 seconds, then stir in the crushed tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are heated through, then adjust seasoning to taste.
• Drain pasta (do not rinse), and pour onto serving dish. Top with the sauce and toss with tongs. (Or you can add the drained pasta to the pan and toss with the sauce, then pour onto serving dish.) Top with parsley and some of the grated Parmiginao Reggiano cheese.
• Serve with remaining grated Parmiginao Reggiano and enjoy!
• Note: using about 1/4 cup minced shallots in this, and 1 to 2 cloves garlic (to taste), would be nice, too.
• Note #2: oh my, well! To the reviewer who said the following, please remember that this is someone else's recipe and not mine and that regardless of your objections it is still delicious. At no point does it claim to be authentic. " -- pasta e ceci does not use spaghetti! you use mixed broken pasta. It doesn't ever have tomatoes in it or wine, stock or thyme! This is a traditional southern Italian dish & for us this is quite offensive! You need to use a bunch of parsley you make the sauce using tap water making it very soupy then you add the raw pasta & cook it in the sauce adding more water if needed. This will give you the starch you need to thicken the sauce & make the pasta taste of the sauce. to make it in the manner described in the recipe is like putting jam on a hotdog!" In any case, I hope folks will try the recipe and decide for themselves whether or not they like it. :).

MINI MEATBALL HERO SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Set oven to 350°F.
• Prepare a baking sheet.
• In a large bowl combine the first 9 ingredients (up to the marinara sauce) mix well with clean hands to combine, if the mixture is too soft then add in a bit more cornflake crumbs.
• Shape into 1-1/2-inch balls, then place on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake the meatballs for about 20 minutes or until cooked and browned.
• Bring the marinara sauce to a simmer on top of the stove.
• Add in the cooked mini meatballs and simmer for about 20 minutes (you can refrigerate this and then use the following day, just rewarm over low heat before using).
• With your fingers press down the bottom part of each bun to create a depression in the middle.
• Spoon about 5-6 meatballs into the depression and then spoon the sauce over to coat.
• Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese, if desired.
• Place the tops of buns over and enjoy!