Pressure Cooker Italian Wedding Soup

Serves 10 in about 1 hour. The pressure cooker brings ground turkey chicken and baby spinach together.

Ingredients

• ½ lb ground turkey or chicken (85% lean)
• ½ lb ground turkey or chicken sausage (85% lean)
• 1 egg
• 1 slice white bread, torn into pieces
• ¼ cup milk
• 3 tsp italian seasoning
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 9 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp dill, dried
• 1 tsp kosher salt (or 3/4 tsp table salt)
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 sm bay leaf
• ¾ cup acini di pepe (or stars, "pastina")
• 10 oz fresh baby spinach

Method

1. Stir the ground meat and sausage together well. Set in a mixing bowl, pushing it to one side.
2. Stir in the egg to the side of the bowl without the meat and beat it.
3. Stir in the torn bread and the milk, making sure the bread soaks up the liquid.
4. Tip in the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, parmesan, and garlic powder. Stir everything together well.
5. Form meat mixture into small, 1-inch meatballs. A 1-oz scoop works very well for this! Set meatballs aside, on a plate or baking sheet.
6. Turn on the Sauté setting. When hot, add the oil and the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, while stirring now and then, for a few minutes, until softened.
7. Tip in the garlic and stir.
8. Stir in the chicken broth, dill, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir.
9. Carefully add the meatballs, then the acini di pepe.
10. Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
11. Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 3 minutes. High Pressure. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.
12. When the cook cycle has finished, turn off the pot and let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes (15 instant natural release). Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining steam/pressure.
13. When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.
14. Tip in the spinach in handfuls and carefully stir the soup. Leave it to the soup sit for a couple of minutes so the spinach can wilt.
15. Plate with some nice crusty bread!

More instant pot ideas are in the instant pot collection.