Tuesday Night Soup Club

Every Tuesday night, we have Soup Club. No, it's not like Fight Club...but we do have simple rules. If you come to soup night twice, you must host. So far, in 1 year of doing soup night every Tuesday, we have not had a repeat soup. So every week, whoever is hosting, scours their recipes for something fresh and new. We try to stay in season, if possible.

This week was my turn. I had completely forgotten about soup night until Monday afternoon. I was a flurry of internet searches for recipes... You'd be amazed at the number of boring and blah soup recipes there are in the world. I had previously had my eye on a corn chowder, but someone had done a rendition of that just 2 weeks earlier. Oh - the stress of coming up with just the right soup to wow our members.

I decided on Escarole and Orzo Soup with Turkey Parmesan Meatballs (courtesy of Epicurious). Of course, I modified it to my liking and doubled it to feed the 6 of us (and to include leftovers for Meghan who had to work and for the fiancee's lunch). I hit the Kroger on the way home to grab a few things that we didn't have on hand...one being Escarole. And let me tell you - what a pathetic excuse for escarole! I had my pick of varying degrees of wiltedness... I grabbed the one that would yield me the 8 cups of decent escarole and chugged on.

The recipe called for making turkey meatballs, chilling them and then dropping them directly into the soup to cook. I; however, thought the picture of said balls looked quite unappealing floating in the soup with nothing to cover them so I opted to quickly pan fry the little suckers first. I truly believe it made a world of difference in the flavor! The only other modification to the recipe I made was to throw in - eh - about a cup of white wine to the broth. We have a ton of random bottles that people leave at parties in the fridge, and I'm not much of a white wine drinker, plus I think it adds a little richness to soups/stews/chilis/sauces.

There were rave reviews - and one person even said, how perfect it fit with the season and weather. I highly recommend this soup - with the modifications. Try it tonight for dinner. It was simple and easy to make!

Escarole and Orzo Soup with Turkey Parmesan Meatballs

If desired, grate a little extra Parmesan cheese for passing; a sprinkling over the soup will echo the flavor in the meatballs.
Yield: Makes 4 main-course servings

1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
12 ounces lean ground turkey
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1 cup chopped peeled carrots
3/4 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
4 cups coarsely chopped escarole (about 1/2 medium head)

Whisk egg and 2 tablespoons water in medium bowl to blend. Mix in breadcrumbs; let stand 5 minutes. Add turkey, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper; gently stir to blend. Using wet hands, shape turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on baking sheet; cover and chill 30 minutes.

Bring 8 cups chicken broth to boil in large pot. Add carrots and orzo; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered 8 minutes. Add turkey meatballs and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in chopped escarole and simmer until turkey meatballs, orzo, and escarole are tender, about 5 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls and serve.