TCD Meatball Soup

Fiend at Court Unplugged

Since I have been writing this weekend about culinary traditions associated with the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, I decided to share a tennis associated food tradition in the Fiend at Court household. Labor Day weekend signals the unofficial start of our favorite season, which of course is “Football.” It is also signals the start of the Tennis Competitors of Dallas (TCD) Adult Mixed league.

TCD is a registered USTA Community Tennis Association (CTA). TCD organizes unsanctioned non-NTRP rated league play. Rather than rating or “bumping up” individual players, TCD promotes and relegates entire teams between flights. Heading into this fall there are 12 flights each with 6-10 teams. 4 lines of mixed doubles are played each weekend and points are awarded to the team on the basis of each set won. TCU Mixed matches occur on Sunday afternoons.

TCD is a great format that demonstrates that the NTRP system is not absolutely essential for organized competitive league play. In fact, the TCD format completely eliminates the incentive for individual players to “tank” matches to avoid a ratings bump that would disqualify them from playing on a team with their besties. With no advancement to some arbitrary USTA sectional or national championship, TCD matches are usually much more convivial than USTA sanctioned league play.

While both members of the Fiend at Court household play TCD Mixed, we do so on separate teams. My team is usually slotted into an “Open” flight. The Fiend at Court spousal unit typically participates a few flights lower. Consequently, Sunday afternoons find us scattered about the metroplex playing for our respective teams.

Coordinating the Sunday evening meal on TCD tennis days can be a challenge. It is a fact that two sweaty and hungry adults will be arriving at home sometime in the proximity of dinner. However, the exact times and sequence of arrival is not precisely predictable. The only constant is that no one will be in the mood to cook. Take-out meals are deceptively hard to coordinate and generally not a great solution for us.

The development of the recipe for TCD Meatball Soup was a complete game changer. It is a meal that can be quickly assembled before heading out to our league matches. It simmers in a slow cooker for a very flexible length of time that corresponds roughly to the length of a league tennis match plus commute time. Pasta is added 20 minutes before serving which happens to be the nominal length of time we need to change out of sweaty tennis clothes and shower.

TCD Meatball Soup is an extremely hearty and filling meal. We usually serve it with homemade focaccia bread that coincidently bakes for the same 20 minutes it takes the pasta to cook. A store bought artisan loaf would work almost as well.

Because it is a soup, the meal also helps with post-match hydration. That is particularly important because a nice Tuscan red pairs perfectly with it.

It is one way that we balance life with tennis in the Fiend at Court household.