With the warm weather looming on the horizon, desperately filling up on soups.
Here’s my version of the Italian Wedding Soup based on the one from Ina Garten.
Compared to Barefoot Contessa’s version, my Sandaled Commoner’s one makes almost double because we need leftovers.
My take has more vegetables — I like a thicker soup that makes a full meal.
Some quantities are adjusted to eliminate waste. For example, the original version calls for 3/4 lb ground chicken in the meatball mix. Ground chicken is usually sold in 1 lb packages. What am I going to do with 1/4 lb chicken left? It’s going to sit forgotten in the refrigerator until the cleanup day. I’d rather have more meatballs in my soup.
There’s also more cheese in my meatballs because, as my compatriots say, you can’t ruin kasha with butter. I think the same goes for cheese and meatballs.
MEATBALLS
— 1 lb ground chicke
— 1 lb ground sausage
— 1 cup bread crumbs
— 2 garlic cloves, minced
— 1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
— 1/3 cup grated parmesan
— 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
— 1/2 cup milk
— 2 large eggs, beaten
— salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE SOUP
— 1 cup small pasta (stars, tubetini, ditalini, vermicelli)
— 1/4 cup olive oil
— 2 medium onions, chopped small
— 5 carrots, diced (about 2 cups)
— 5 celery stalks, diced ( about 2 cups)
— 1 garlic clove, minced
— 4 qts chicken stock
— 1 cup dry white wine
— 1 lb baby spinach
— 1/2 cup chopped dill
THE PROCESS
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. Rinse under the running water to stop cooking. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to drained pasta to prevent sticking.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs and shape them into bite-size balls. Bake them on a parchment lined sheet pan for about 10 minutes. Then, broil to color for another 5-7 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, soften all the vegetables in olive oil. That should take about 10 minutes.
5. Add chicken stock and wine to the vegetables and bring to a boil.
6. Add cooked meatballs and let them warm up and flavor the broth for a few minutes.
7. Add cooked pasta and let it warm up for a minute or so.
8. Add spinach to the pot and let it wilt.
9. Off heat and add dill.