Italian Wedding Soup

I had been hearing about Italian Wedding soup for quite a while when I finally got ahold of a recipe.  The soup itself sounded simple and contained only items we like.  So I gave it a try.  This soup is awesome!  And it’s simple enough to make that you don’t have to bother with buying salt-laden cans of from that giant soup company (rhymes with gamble). 

The original recipe called for only 4 cups of broth.  However, since you are adding the pasta uncooked, it will soak up a lot of the broth, so I doubled the amount.  Even then, if you have leftovers, the pasta will continue to absorb broth, so it will get thicker by the day.  But that’s ok in my opinion.  If you don’t like it, add more broth.

 

The recipe calls for a beef and pork mixture for the meatballs. I’ve used all beef when I didn’t have any pork available, and it worked just fine.

 

 

 

 

The most time-consuming part of this soup is making the meatballs.  It’s not what I would call labor-intensive, but it just takes a while.  To save time for future batches of soup, I have made double-batches of these meatballs (as long as I’m getting my hands sticky anyway) and frozen them after they have been cooked.  Then, the next time, all you need to do is pop the frozen balls into the broth and cook them a little longer to make sure they are heated thoroughly.

 

Italian Wedding Soup

Adapted from Recipe by Penzeys Spice catalog, Fall 2003

1/2 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon parsley
1 egg
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups fresh spinach -- rinsed well, stems removed, and cut into strips; or use 1/4 package frozen spinach
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
4 ounces orzo -- or any small pasta
1/4 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Combine meats, bread crumbs, pepper, salt, basil, parsley, and egg in a bowl and mix until well blended. Form into tiny meatballs, about 1 to 1 ½ tsp. of meat. Bake on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 350°F. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a low boil and add the spinach. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the meatballs to the hot broth along with the garlic and Italian seasoning. Add the pasta and continue to boil until pasta is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese and serve immediately.

Preparation Time: 0:30
Cooking Time: 0:45
Serves: 4-6

Click here for a PDF version of the recipe:  Italian Wedding Soup.