Warm Soup on a Cold Day

In spite of the rain that we are having here in SF, I opted to brave the cold and rain in order to go to the store for some ingredients for a yummy dinner. decided that a warm bowl of soup sounded delicious, and it's a great way to use up some leftovers too, so kale (i know... again!), white beans, carrots, celery, onion, bought some ground pork to make some little meatballs for the soup as well, so in essence it ended up being like an italian wedding soup. threw some spinach leaves in there for good measure (and extra vitamins, plus we had some in the fridge), potatoes, garlic, some veggie stock and voila! a yummy bowl of comforting soup on this cold winter day. I garnished it with a nice parmesan crisp for some added saltiness... so good! anyway, I hope that if you are cold and rained in like me that you get inspired to cook something delicious and healthy. and in case you need some inspiration, here's the recipe:

For the meatballs:
1/4 lb ground pork
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg yolk
salt pepper seasonings
1 Tblspn parmesan cheese, finely grated

combine all ingredients in a bowl. roll into small balls, about 1 inch around. set aside.

For the soup:
1 slice of bacon, small chop
1/2 onion, small dice
1 1/2 carrots, small dice
2 celery stalks, small dice
2 small red potatoes, medium dice
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 bunch kale, steams removed, rough chop
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cans white kidney beans, rinsed
veggie/chicken stock (7 cups)
salt, pepper, herbs

in a deep pot, render bacon fat. remove bacon, and add pork meatballs (see above), just brown the outside, do not cook through, remove from pot. add onions, carrots, celery (mire poix), sweat down, add 1/2 the chopped garlic. return the bacon to the pan, add stock. Bring up to a boil, add potatoes, cook on boil for 5-8 min, and reduce to simmer. cook for another 10 min. add kale, cook 5-10 min, add meatballs, spinach, and white beans, heat through on simmer. while simmering, finely grate parmesan cheese, on a parchment lined sheet pan, place cheese in piles, and spread out thin, bake at 350 degrees until golden, remove, allow to cool off the sheet pan.

to serve, ladel into a bowl, making sure to get meatballs! and top with crisp. delicious