Turkey Meatball and Spaghetti Soup

It is getting colder and colder as the weeks go on and winter will be here before we know it. Soup is one of the best meals for winter months because it is so hearty, filling, and warms you right up. We try tons of different soup recipes every winter and always find a few that we absolutely love and want to share with people. This soup is incredibly delicious and is cheap to make, which is an added bonus with the holidays coming up.  This recipe reminds me of Spaghettio's with meatballs from when I was a child, but it is much healthier and so much tastier.

Turkey Meatball and Spaghetti Soup
Serves: 6 servings
Adapted by: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/03/meatball-and-spaghetti-soup-5-ww-pts.html

Ingredients:
5 cups low sodium/fat free chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cloves of garlic, chopped and divided
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided OR 2 tablespoons dried parsley
1/2 sweet onion, chopped and divided
3-4 tablespoons tomato sauce (I use low sodium tomato sauce)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes - OPTIONAL but totally worth it
salt and pepper for seasoning
6 oz dry spaghetti noodles, cut into small pieces - make sure to use whole wheat/whole grain varieties

1 pound ground turkey breast OR lean ground beef
1 small egg
1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup light grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:
-In a large soup pot, over medium heat, bring the chicken broth, water, 1 clove of crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, 1/4 of the chopped onion, tomato sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to a boil; simmer about 5 minutes or so.
-In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, parmesan cheese, egg, remaining garlic, remaining onion, remaining parsley, breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper. Once combined thoroughly, form the mixture into small 1 inch meatballs (you will end up with about 36 meatballs if you make them small enough).
-In a nonstick skillet, add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Once heated, add the meatballs. You will want to make sure all sides of the meatballs get seared. This will take approx 5 minutes or so.
-Once you have seared all sides of the meatballs, add them to the large pot of broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Once at a boil, turn to medium heat and cover. Cook for 20 minutes.
-Add the pasta to the boiling soup and cook according to the directions on the pasta package. It usually takes 10-14 minutes for spaghetti noodles to be cooked thoroughly.
-Right before soup is done, add the basil, add any additional salt and pepper if it is needed and then serve with grated parmesan cheese on top.

Enjoy! :)