Week 128: Vegetable Soup with Basil Meatballs
Hopefully all of you are doing well ... staying healthy while staying sane. Luckily, my family has settled easily into our new normal and I'm very thankful for that. The only thing sign my husband is going a little stir-crazy is that he hung a quote in our kitchen from Mr. Burns on the TV show The Simpson's ... it say's "Don't forget. You're here forever." Kinda funny, kinda frightening all at once.
On the menu for MONDAY, APRIL 6th is VEGETABLE SOUP WITH BASIL MEATBALLS and ROSEMARY OLIVE BREAD. This is a fan favorite soup ... it's delicious, hearty and filled with meatballs!! The soup begins with assembling the meatballs and browning them in the oven to intensify their flavor. The meatballs are filled with lean ground beef, fresh basil and parsley, breadcrumbs and egg. Meanwhile, diced onion, garlic, celery, and carrots are sauted in a little bit of butter in the pot. Once softened, homemade chicken stock, tomato sauce and small noodles are added. (Sorry to be vague about what type of noodles I'll be using, but supplies have been limited at the stores so it'll all depend on inventory.) The soup simmers until all the flavors are blended together and is garnished with fresh parsley. A gluten-free version of the soup is available, please comment in the notes section when ordering.
The bread companion this week is my rosemary olive bread ... a crusty, round loaf of bread filled with little bites of fresh rosemary and salty olives that tastes perfect dipped into this soup. And trust me, you do not need to like olives to love this bread. You really don't taste olives, they really just add a salty flavor to the bread.
** Please note that all soup for the time being will be delivered in disposable containers, it is automatically added to your purchase. And while we love seeing your faces when we make our deliveries ... for the time being we are going to leave your dinner on the front porch, rather than hand delivering it to you so we can avoid breaching social distancing guidelines. Please note that pick up orders will be from 5:00 - 6:30 PM. Z Place is currently closed on Mondays during this crisis, so thank you for your patience as I try to accomodate everyone.