Italian Wedding Soup

We had lunch with my grandma a while ago. She lives in a great home where we can join her for a yummy lunch. We were served Italian Wedding Soup, which I'd never heard of. It's full of veggies and sausage (my favorite!). I've made it twice now and think it's awesome. My kids likened it to chicken noodle soup the first time I made it. For me, I'd take it over chicken noodle soup anytime. For this recipe, I'm actually going to try to remember to prep a few things before actually cooking :).

1.5x this recipe served 6 last night. Homemade rolls would have been an awesome accompaniment.

PREPARATION--AND START EARLY ENOUGH (5 pm?) THAT THE SOUP ISN'T SCALDING WHEN IT'S TIME TO SIT DOWN TO DINNER :)
Do some chopping and set these aside:
1 c chopped carrots 
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped celery
any other veggies (I've done zucchini)

Form 1/2 inch balls out of:
6 oz turkey sausage (or was it chicken sausage that I bought?)

COOKING:
Saute your veggies in olive oil in your soup pot (or skip this step and cook veggies in the broth). Vegetables do need longer than the meat and pasta if you want them tender (see bottom note).

Add and bring to a boil:
4 c chicken broth (if watching salt intake, use low sodium)

Add your sausage balls and let simmer for 4 minutes or until just cooked through.

Add and simmer for 12 minutes:
3 c baby spinach, chopped if desired
1/2 c Acini di Pepe

Use fresh parsley and shredded Parmesan for garnish.

Update: I made this soup again just for myself without the Acini and without sauteing the veggies. It was great. The very first time I made it I added pepper, but the sausage is spicy enough for me. No pepper needed. Since I wasn't doing pasta in it, I just cooked the sausage balls for 15 min or so with the veggies and everything was perfect. Another note: carrots and broccoli are really good after 12 minutes, but I prefer my celery a little more cooked, so I'd saute celery and onions very first and then add everything else. And, if you cook the acini di pepe separately you can choose how much you want and avoid the noodles soaking up too much of your broth! Next time I make it I should just redo this whole recipe write-up, huh?