Italian Wedding Soup

Today we woke up sleepy to a dreary rainy and quite chilly morning.  Over coffee I decided that tonight we would have soup for dinner.  We are a soup family, and nothing is as much a comfort food as soup on a cold rainy day.
My freezer pantry is dwindling and my usual staples, stew beef and a whole chicken were not to be found.  I found some ground venison and ground pork, so it was going to be Italian Wedding Soup today.  I even managed to have the itsy bitsy round pasta.  At some point I purchased acini di pepe pasta with wedding soup in mind.  I've used plain old elbow macaroni in a pinch.
Jack helped me with the tiny meatballs, that, of course, grew larger the longer he helped.  He really hates getting his hands messy, so this was a good therapy for him. 

I just tasted the soup for seasoning and now I'm regretting not having the forethought to make my friend Cindy's French Bread!  Each time I make her bread, my dinner guests think  it is store bought.  That's how well it turns out.  Next time, I'll think ahead.

Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs:

• 1 small onion,chopped very fine or grated
• 1/2 t fresh thyme leaves (or dry if you don't have fresh)
• 1 large egg or 2 medium eggs, mixed
• 2 cloves
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs, freshly ground in the food processor
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano
• 8 ounces ground venison
• 8 ounces ground pork
• Freshly ground black pepper

Soup

• 12 cups chicken broth or equivalent bouillon cubes and water.
• 1 pack frozen chopped spinach
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To make the meatballs: Stir the first 9 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Make the meatballs small and roughly the same size. Save them on a baking sheet.

To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the pasta.  When the pasta is about half way done, add the spinach and bring to a boil again.  Add  meatballs  and simmer until the meatballs are cooked. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, the goal here is to form thin stands of egg.  Serve soup with parmesan cheese and warm bread or rolls.