Italian Wedding Soup

• 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary
• 12 sprigs thyme
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 egg white
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• pepper
• sea salt
• 4 1/4 cups turkey broth
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup orzo
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups butternut squash cubed
• 4 cups kale

1. Start by adding the Parmesan cheese, rosemary, and thyme into the food processor. Blend until fully chopped.
2. Once blended, spoon the Parmesan mix into a medium-sized bowl with 1 lb. of ground turkey. Then add 1/4 a cup of turkey broth, pepper to taste (I used 1 tbsp.), 1 pinch of sea salt, egg white, and bread crumbs.
3. Knead the ingredients into the ground turkey until fully mixed. Roll the meat in your hands and shape into 1inch balls. Place the meatballs on a cutting board or parchment paper and set aside (yields approximately 21 meatballs).
4. Heat a medium skillet with olive oil- enough to coat the bottom of the skillet.
5. While heating your olive oil, bring the remaining 4 cups of turkey broth and 3 cups of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Add 1 tbsp. of pepper, 3 hearty pinches of salt (I used all 5 fingertips lol), 5 more sprigs of thyme, 2 more sprigs of rosemary, 1/4 a cup of Parsley and boil while you cook your meatballs. Allow the herbs to wilt. The sprigs will become duller in color. Stir periodically.
6. Once the olive oil is hot, add 5-6 meatballs to the skillet and cover.
7. **The oil will sizzle a bit, but should not pop. If it begins to pop uncontrollably, reduce your heat and continue cooking.
8. Check the meatballs as you go. You want them to have a golden brown sear on each side. I let the meatballs cook on each side for approximately 45 seconds to 1 minute.
9. **For every 6 meatballs in the skillet, it took roughly 7-8 minutes to cook completely through (turning on all sides). The timing is not a perfect science. Make sure to watch the meatballs as they cook and reduce your heat to medium/high halfway through. The oil will get extremely hot- making the meatballs cook faster.
10. Once cooked through, put the meatballs on a paper towel covered plate. Continue cooking the meatballs- 6 at a time.
11. **Let them rest. Do not cut into the balls for a few minutes so the juices can settle back into the meat.
12. Using a slotted spoon, remove the rosemary and thyme from the stockpot before adding your remaining ingredients. Stir.
13. Add the orzo and stir immediately to ensure the pasta does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
14. Add 2 cups of kale and let it cook down for 30 seconds. Then add the remaining 2 cups of kale and stir.
15. Add 1.5 cups of butternut squash to your broth and stir well mixing all the ingredients together.
16. Reduce the heat to medium and let the kale, squash, and orzo marry together. Simmer for 5 minutes.
17. Stir and taste. If you would like more salt or pepper, add to taste.
18. Let simmer for another 3 minutes.
19. Carefully add your meatballs into the stockpot and stir.
20. Turn the heat to medium low and let simmer for another 3 minutes.
21. Garnish with Parmesan cheese, cozy up, and enjoy!

parmesan cheese, garlic, fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, egg, ground turkey, whole wheat bread crumbs, pepper, salt, turkey broth, extravirgin olive oil, orzo, water, butternut squash, kale

Taken from www.yummly.com/recipe/Italian-Wedding-Soup-1012971 (may not work)