Snake & Spider Stew

He'II be so pleased by our success That he'll reward us too, I bet Perhaps he'll make his special brew Of snake and spider stew

You definitely don't need to kidnap any beloved holiday icons to get a bowl full of this delicious soup! Just a few ingredients and a little bit of time!

Snake & Spider Stew

serves: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

(for the meatballs)

• 450g (1lb) ground beef

• ½ cup bread crumbs

• ¼ cup milk

• ¼ tsp pepper

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 small onion, finely diced

• 1 egg

(for the soup)

• 3 Tbs olive oil

• 1 small onion (roughly chopped)

• 1 tsp minced garlic

• 907g chicken stock

• 1 cup warm water

• 350g diced tomatoes (If you dice your own, fresh tomatoes, add in an extra half a cup of warm water)

• 2 bay leaves

• 550g beans (I used a 4-bean mix of red kidney beans, baby lima beans, chick peas and butter beans)

• 1 cup dry noodles (I used multi-coloured mini fusilli)

• 200g bacon (cut into pieces)

Method:

(for the meatballs)

1. Mix all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Shape into 20-24 meatballs and fry in a pan until cooked.

2. Set aside.

(for the soup)

1. Heat oil, onion and garlic in a large soup pot on low until tender.

2. Add chicken stock, water and tomatoes. Stir for a few minutes until all incorporated.

3. Season to taste. Add meatballs, beans and noodles. Bring to the boil.

4. Whilst boiling, fry the bacon in the same pan used to cook the meatballs - to taste or until browned and crispy.

5. Once noodles are soft take pot off the heat.

6. Serve with topping of crispy bacon.

There you have it! This recipe is so delicious and filling - and it goes absolutely perfectly with my recipe for pumpkin bread rolls - which can be found in my themed recipe pages!

You can always spend a bit of extra time shaping the meatballs into little spiders, or making your own pasta which looks like a long snake - but I found this to be cute and spooky enough for my own movie night!!!

As always, if you do make this at home please let me know how it went - or even share your own pictures!

Feel free to contact me with any questions, requests or general comments - I'd love to hear from you!

And please share this recipe with any of your friends or family who might be interested in trying it for themselves!!!

Thanks, and enjoy!