Recipe Collection: Meatball Soup

This soup is a yummy, GAPS-friendly meal!  And if you have people in your home who don’t really care for soup (as we do), the meatballs themselves make a great meal too.  If you’re not on GAPS, feel free to add some beans to this too.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 c. broccoli florets, roughly chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 c. peas
• 8 c. chicken or beef stock
• 2 c. tomato puree
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. sea salt (or to taste

Meatballs:

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 c. coconut flour
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 zucchini, shredded
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs together in a large glass bowl.  Shape mini-meatballs (about 1/2″ in diameter) and place in a baking pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  (You may not need quite all of them for the soup — depending on how “meaty” you like it.  You can do some as larger meatballs, too, especially if you have family members who don’t like soup.)

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large soup pot.  Add the onion and garlic and sautee until soft.  Add the rest of the veggies, stock, tomato puree, and spices.  Cook for 1 – 2 hours, until veggies are all softened.  Taste and add more salt as necessary.  Add the meatballs immediately before serving.  Serves 6 – 8 (we got about three meals out of it — the adults).

Top with some cheese if desired, serve with a salad or smoothie.