Italian Meatball Soup

I've been trying to find new recipes to get my daughter to eat meat. She's not a big fan of any type of meat and would rather eat salads. What 2 year old prefers salad over chicken nuggets or hot dogs?!!?!?

Anyways, I was searching this weekend and looked through my Pampered Chef 29 Minutes to Dinner cookbook and found a recipe for Italian Meatball Soup and gave it a try. She ate the entire bowl!

2 medium carrots, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 Tbsp tomato paste

4 garlic cloves, pressed

1 Tbsp oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes in puree

2 cups beef broth

box frozen cooked meatballs

salt & pepper to taste

Lightly spray a heavy duty sauce pan with cooking spray and add carrots, onion and celery. Cook over medium heat 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Push the vegetables aside to one side of the pan. Add tomato paste; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until tomato paste begins to caramelize.

Add garlic and seasoning. Mix well. Stir in tomatoes and broth, bring to a simmer. Cut meatballs in half and add to soup. Simmer an additional 10 to 12 minutes; season to taste with salt and pepper.

The recipe also calls for 1 1/2 cups of water in addition to the beef broth. I wanted a thicker soup and omitted the water.