Creamy Meatball Soup

I was inspired to make meatball soup at home after hubby ordered a bowl of it while we were out in town. I had never thought of using meatballs in soup before, but it was so yummy and filling I came right home and googled a meatball soup recipe. This soup sort of tastes like a grown up version of SpaghettiO's, as it combined orzo pasta with diced tomatoes and of course meatballs. It was super easy and made a huge batch! If you are only serving two people, I recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you want lots of leftovers!  

Creamy Meatball Soup
From Delicious Meliscious
Printable Version
Makes 8 single bowl servings 
Ingredients
16 meatballs - baked according to directions
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup fresh basil coarsely chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup raw orzo cooked according to package directions
1 cup half and half
1/2 stick unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
Chopped green onions for garnish, if desired

Directions
Combine diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken stock, and garlic in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil and simmer for fifteen minutes. Add basil. With an immersion blender, blend until smooth or desired consistency is reached (I left mine chunky)/ Add butter and half and half and whisk until well blended. Add meatball and orzo. Scoop into individual bowls and serve with Parmesan cheese and chopped green onions.