Recently I’ve made it a goal to try and cook for myself at least once a week. We all know the reasons why: it’s better for the budget, it’s better for health…and done right, it always tastes better.

Done right.

Yep. I’m like a lot of you. As much as I love eating great food, I’m not always that great at cooking it. But this recipe — y’all, even I was surprised at how great this came out! I saw the original recipe on TikTok, but (as always) it felt like too much work when I’m cooking mostly for myself.

So I tweaked the recipe, boiling it down to five simple ingredients. You have to try this recipe. It’s basically Italian Wedding Soup without the broth — so, naturally, if you want to stretch this to feed a lot more people, just thin it out with some chicken broth and you’re good to go.

I can pretty much guarantee that I will be making this again. Soon.

Italian Wedding Pasta

Yield: 4 generous servings (will probably serve up to 6 if you add salad, garlic bread, etc.)

• 1 1-lb box of any ‘tiny’ pasta of your choice. I used pastina because it was what I happened to have on hand, but anything you prefer (orzo, ditalini, etc. — whatever is on sale) will probably work. Pearl couscous (aka Israeli couscous) would be fantastic in this recipe because it mimics the commercially available versions of this soup.
• 1 bag frozen Italian-style meatballs. This is shortcut #1. The original posted recipe gave full directions to make your own tiny meatballs. I don’t have the time, inclination, or energy for any of that. Buy the smaller size meatballs and they will work great.
• 1 box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained. Again, use whatever you have on hand or can purchase quickly and cheaply. I buy fresh baby spinach/arugula mix for my husband to put in his lunch sandwiches, so I just threw in a couple of large handfuls of that.
• 1 jar commercially available pesto. This is shortcut #2. I always have it on hand as a way to have a fresher-tasting Italian-style meal. But if you have dried italian seasoning and some parmesan cheese on hand, that will work too.
• Chicken broth. This can be the stuff in the can/box or a tablespoon of Better than Bouillon with 3 cups of water. Again, whatever you’ve got in the pantry or can get your hands on easily.

This is how easy this recipe is:

1. Pour the meatballs into the bottom of your pot. This can be a large skillet or a medium to large-sized saucepan; whatever you have that will fit all of the ingredients.
2. Add the pasta and broth. The amount of broth will be somewhat flexible depending on the size of the pasta you’re using; at the very least, you will need the liquid to cover the pasta and meatballs. Bring the liquid to a boil.
3. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for up to 10 minutes. Take the cooking time for your pasta and add 2-3 minutes since you’re not starting from a roiling boil. This should take no more than 10 minutes unless you’re using one of those fancy gluten-free or high fiber/protein pastas that take more than 10 minutes to cook using traditional methods.
4. 2 minutes before the estimated end of your cooking time (around 8 minutes), stir in your greens and pesto. You’re mostly looking to lightly cook the greens and heat up the pesto. You don’t want to over-cook pesto (it can dampen the flavor), which is why it’s going in now and not when you start cooking the meatballs. Taste your pasta and adjust your cooking time if necessary — if you don’t want to cook the pasta for the remaining few minutes you can take the pot off the heat and let the residual heat from the dish cook the greens.

That’s it — dinner is served! If you want to boost the flavor of this dish, feel free to melt in a tablespoon (or so) of butter and garnish with fresh parsley or parmesan cheese. Either way, it is absolutely delicious and supremely satisfying comfort food with next to no effort.

Enjoy! And if you have any questions (or want to share what your family thought of the dish), feel free to let me know in the comments!