Recipe: Cheese Ball Soup (Italian)

CHEESE BALL SOUP

"This can be made with stock or bouillon, which I do most of the time, but since Gram made this during Lent or on meatless Fridays, she used buttered water in place of the stock. Either way, is good."

FOR THE CHEESE BALLS:
1 lb fresh ricotta cheese (goat ricotta is the best)
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (or very dry goat cheese)
2 cups fine dry bread crumbs (or more, as needed)
1 egg
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 or 2 dashes garlic salt
1 good handful of dry, crushed basil

FOR THE SOUP:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
1 medium size onion, finely chopped
3 to 4 stalks celery, finely chopped
a little dry parsley
2 cups chicken stock (or bouillon)
about 4 cups water (may need more, I don't really measure this)
Additional boiling water (if needed)

TO PREPARE THE CHEESE BALLS:
Mix all the ingredients for the cheese balls together. The mixture should be fairly hard, not soft as you make the mixture for ravioli. (If it is soft, when you add them to the hot soup they will come apart and the cheese will just spread all over the soup, no cheese balls. Add more bread crumbs if it seems too soft.) Roll into small balls about 1-inch in diameter. Set aside in refrigerator.

TO PREPARE SOUP:
In an 8-quart stock pot, melt the butter.

Saute onion and celery in the butter on medium high heat until they are translucent. Add the parsley and the stock and about 4 cups water. Bring to a hard boil.

Remove the cheese balls from the refrigerator and gently drop them in the boiling soup. When they are done they will pop to the surface of the soup. Add more boiling water if the cheese balls are not covered. This takes just a few minutes, not more than 10. The soup becomes quite thick and hearty especially if you add some cooked pastine (small specialty macaroni, like Acini de Pepe)

NOTES:
I like to serve this soup with a thick slice of Vienna bread or homemade bread and butter, and a nice green salad with tomatoes. A delicious meatless meal.

The only trick to this soup, as I said before, is to make sure that the cheese balls are very hard.

Adapted from source: Diane Ferrell