Italian Wedding Soup

This terrific recipe for Italian Wedding Soup was submitted by Dotty.

Recipe Ingredients:

Soup:
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach
1 medium onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tablespoon celery salt
6 cups chicken stock

Meatballs:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon oil

Cooking Directions:

1. For Soup: Rinse frozen spinach well, let drain until very dry, then chop. In a large skillet over moderate heat, sauté the chopped onion, celery, carrots, and minced clove of garlic in olive oil. Season with celery salt. Place vegetables and chicken stock in a soup kettle and simmer for at least 1 hour.
2. For Meatballs: Prepare meatballs by combining the lean ground beef, minced onion, salt, pepper, parsley, 2 minced cloves garlic, eggs, milk, and bread crumbs. Shape into 1-inch meatballs and brown in a skillet containing one tablespoon of olive oil until they are cooked through. Drain meatballs on paper towels as they brown. Add meatballs to the soup and boil gently for 20 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.