Italian Wedding Soup for Lovey

It was my friend's birthday this past weekend (his girlfriend calls him Lovey, so it is impossible for me to think of him as anything other than Lovey now) which allowed us to have a party filled with great italian fare, like mozzarella basil and tomato appetizers, this sundried dip for bagel chips that was to die for, some home made Cannolis that made me breathless,vegetarian (yay, Mackenzie for thinking of moi) and meat filled lasagnas, home made strawberry cake for Lovey to enjoy and other great things that I feel remiss about not mentioning... Lets just say, between the food and the great Merlot they had for us, I as quite the happiest of girls (and it wasn't even MY birthday!)

My offering for the evening was my homemade Italian Wedding soup. The concept of the meatballs is taken from Ina Garten's recipe... I modify everything to fit me... So, here is my recipe... It seems like a lot of work, but honestly after you chop the mirepoix, my child remembered whilst I was chopping away, yay!, which is called soffritto in Italian, you are free to sit back and wait for the aroma to fill the house.

Italian Wedding Soup
~For the meatballs:
* 1 pound ground turkey
* 1 pound Italian Chicken Sausage, crumbled (Whole Foods offers it without casings)
* 2/3 cup dried Italian Bread crumbs
* 2 teaspoons minced garlic
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
* 3 tablespoons milk
* 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

~For the soup:
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1 cup finely chopped onion
* 1 cup diced carrots
* 1 cup diced celery
* 12 cups homemade chicken stock
* 1 cup Barilla Pastina
* 3 tbsp dried dill
* 12 ounces baby spinach

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, milk, and egg in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.
In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the dill and meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.