Spicy Meatball Soup with Potato

We just returned from a quick trip to Glenwood Springs.  It's a great get-away and it's less than four hours from our home by car.  We spend a bit of time swimming and a bit of time playing mini-golf, and we eat at some really great restaurants. We love to eat at a steak and seafood restaurant called Juicy Lucy's.  On one visit a few years back, my husband got a cup of soup with his meal... he was extra hungry.  I had a bite of the soup and I decided I should try to replicate the recipe at home.  I've been making this soup ever since. When we ate at Juicy Lucy's this week, my husband kept asking about the soup of the day... hoping they'd have the meatball soup.  They had Creamy Corn Chowder while we were there and he passed on that. Now that we are back home, I asked for meal suggestions for the week and my husband asked me to make meatball soup.  He said he likes my soup better than Juicy Lucy's anyway... Yay!  Here's the recipe.  It's a bit of work, but well worth the effort. 

Spicy Meatball Soup with Potato

Spicy Meatball Dumplings:
3 links hot Italian sausage, casings removed
½ pound lean ground beef
4 teaspoons plain bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper

Soup:
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ red onion, finely diced (optional)
2 carrots, finely diced
2 ribs celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced or pressed
1 carton low sodium beef broth (4 cups)
2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes or diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce size)
1 ½ tsp. dried oregano
1 ½ tsp. dried basil
2 bay leaves (I forget them this time but the soup turned out fine)
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1 to 1 ½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

3 small potatoes (russet), peeled and diced

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine ingredients for meatball dumplings (hands work good for incorporating all ingredients). Set aside.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot; add the onion, celery, and carrot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Add the garlic and the spices and cook one additional minute, stirring frequently. Add the beef broth, the canned tomatoes, and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Add the diced potatoes to the pot.

3. Pinch small amounts of the meatball mixture (approx. 1 level tsp. in size) with fingertips and gently roll into balls. Slowly and carefully drop the meatballs into simmering soup.  Distribute the meatballs all around the pot (as opposed to all in one spot) so the meatballs don't stick together.   After all the meatballs have been placed in simmering pot, gently stir the soup to distribute the meatballs, cover the soup pot with a lid, and simmer the soup until meatballs are cooked through and potatoes are desired tenderness, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Check frequently to ensure liquid is not boiling too aggressively; reduce temperature if needed (just keep at a nice simmer).