I am trying to make the ultimate meatball and bean soup. This is kind of in response to the soup kickstart diet that was on Today Tonight years ago. Now and then I have a health kick and need to lose a bit of weight and vegetable soup is good at this if you control what goes in it. Here is my current soup.

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 250 grams mince
• 1 red onion (grated)
• 1 clove garlic (crushed)
• dash of paprika
• dash of mixed herbs
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs (optional)
• Canola oil or similar for frying

Soup

• Canola oil or similar
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 zuchinni, quartered lengthways and sliced
• 1 carrot, quartered lengthqays and sliced
• 1 stick of celery
• 1/2 cup of water
• 800 grams of canned diced tomatoes
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 400 grams of beans, borlotti are good, if canned, drain and rince
• salt/pepper to taste

Basic Method

Meatballs

1. Mix all ingredients in a ball
2. If you are not using breadcrumbs chill the mixed ingredients for 1/2 hour
3. Heat oil in a fry pan
4. Form meat mixture into balls and fry until browned
5. Set aside

Soup

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven
2. add onion, zhucinni, carrot and celery and fry until onion softens, about 5 minutes
3. Add the water and bring to boil
4. Add tomatoes, stock and meatballs and reduce heat to a simmer
5. Cook for 1/4 hour stirring occasionally, it should reduce a little
6. Add beans and salt and pepper to taste

Optional Extras

Chinese Pearl Barley

Add 1/3 cup when you add the meatballs for a bit of body, this will need extra cooking time as the pearl barley needs to soften