FRESH FROM FLORIDA RECIPE: Learn to Create Florida Endive and Vegetable Meatball Soup – Delicious!

A little comfort food you can feel good about. Florida Endive and Vegetable Meatball Soup

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Learn how to make Florida Endive and Vegetable Meatball Soup.

Think of endive (Cichorium endivia) as the sophisticated cousin of lettuce. This cool-season leafy vegetable is often used in gourmet salad mixes, where it adds interesting texture and flavor.

Some forms of endive have broad leaves, while others have narrow, ruffled leaves. Curly endive is sometimes called frisee, while broad-leafed endive is called escarole.

Belgian endive, with its pale green, scoop-shaped leaves, is technically a different species.

All endive must be grown in cool weather, or else it will bolt. In Central and South Florida, it can be grown from December through March. In North Florida, it can be grown September through April, though it needs to be protected from freezes.

INGREDIENTS

■ 1 pound Florida lean ground beef

■ 1 cup Florida yellow squash, grated fine

■ 1 cup Florida zucchini, grated fine

■ 1 cup Florida mushrooms, chopped fine

■ 1 cup Florida carrot, shredded fine

■ 1 cup panko

■ 1 egg

■ 1/2 cup milk

■ 1 tablespoon all-purpose seasoning (your favorite)

■ 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

■ Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Soup

■ 1 head Florida curly endive, rinsed and chopped

■ 1 cup Florida celery, rinsed and diced small

■ 2 cups Florida carrots, peeled and diced small

■ 1 can red kidney beans, drained

■ 10 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth

■ 2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced

■ 2 tablespoons fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), chopped fine

■ Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

■ 1 tablespoon olive oil

■ Parmesan cheese for garnish, grated

PREPARATION

Meatballs

■ In a large mixing bowl, combine egg, milk, seasoning blend, and panko. Stir until well combined.

■ Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir the mixture again.

■ Add the ground beef and vegetables to the bread crumb mixture.

■Continue to mix the beef with all the ingredients until everything is uniformly incorporated.

■ Roll the meatball mixture into a small bite-sized ball and keep it refrigerated until use.

Soup

■ Preheat a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

■ Add the olive oil to the preheated pot. Carefully add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pot.

■ Cook ingredients for 5 to 7 minutes while stirring occasionally.

■ Add the garlic and fresh chopped herbs and cook for another 2 minutes.

■ Add the broth to the cooking ingredients in the pot. Bring the ingredients to a light boil, then reduce the heat to a slow boil.

■ Add the raw bite-sized meatballs to the simmering soup. And let it cook for another 10 minutes. Add the chopped curly Florida endive.

■ Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

■ Serve soup hot, garnished with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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