hot cheese soup

Ricotta cheese is probably one of my favourite cheeses to work with. I truly believe it was sent from the cheese Gods. You can use it in just about anything, from home made gnocchi, SOUP, desserts & even spreads. Its a lighter cheese, so it won't weigh you down as much... seriously- but it will still fill ya up.

My mum used to make this for me all the time when I was younger & stopped making it for the longest time. I went home for a visit & she made it as a quick meal for lunch for us one day. My first bowl of ricotta cheese soup may have been where my true love for soup began. I brought the recipe home to Ottawa & made it for my friends, and everyone loved it -so much they ask me to make it for them all the time. We make this soup at home almost once a week. Its fast, easy, and delicious - almost like an Italian wedding soup, but its a vegetarian friendly option.


What you need:

2 containers of ricotta cheese - I typically use Trestelle, but it can sometimes be pricey if its not on sale.
2 cups of bread crumbs
1 egg
1 palm full of dried oregano
1 palm full of garlic salt
a pinch of freshly ground salt & pepper
1 bag of spinach
2 jars of chicken stock (or your favourite)
for garnish - freshly grated parmesan cheese, basil

Combine all ingredients but the spinach, stock & garnish in a large mixing bowl, mixing well. Seriously mix this really well. I suggest taking off any rings. Ricotta cheese may taste really good, but it won't look very good encrusted into your pretty jewels. Okay set that aside for now. Fill a large pot  with your favourite stock. We always have homemade jars of chicken stock on hand - or even boxed campbell's broth. Whatever broth you like works, but I suggest a chicken or vegetable broth. Set to a medium/low heat with the lid half on. Back to the ricotta. Start forming balls out of the mixture & setting onto a cutting board or plate. These should be the same size at meatballs, & fit nicely into your palm. This mixture should yield about 9-10 cheese balls. If you notice you are unable to form a good cheese ball because your mixture is too runny, simply add some more bread crumbs, until your ricotta dough is easy to mould into balls. Once you are done making your cheese balls, check on your broth. By this time it should have started to slowly boil. If it hasn't, turn the heat up a bit. If your broth is really boiling turn it down. You want to drop your cheese balls into a hot broth - not a full throttle cauldron of stock. Drop all of your balls into the broth. Turn the heat up to medium & let it cook for about 4 minutes. Add an entire bag of spinach to the pot, really submerging it into the broth. Let cook for another 3-4 minutes. Your cheese balls will float to the top of the broth. Serve up in deep bowls. This pot will feed about 4-6 big bowls of soup. I like to serve to cheese balls per bowl with a generous portion of broth. Garnish with some freshly grated parmesan cheese & some finely chopped basil. If you do happen to have any left over, this soup is great the next day. The flavours really come out even better after a night of soaking in its own broth. I like to cut into my meat balls, which helps to thicken up the broth. If you have any crusty bread on hand, its tastes pretty damn good dipped in.

Hope you enjoy!!

Nicole