Italian Wedding Soup

The term "wedding soup" is a mistranslation of the Italian language phrase "minestra maritata ("married soup")," which is a reference to the fact that green vegetables and meats go well together.  And all these years I thought it was a soup served at Italian weddings!  Regardless, I never would have guessed I would be blogging a soup recipe the last week of April, but it's 47'F here and rainy so a soup recipe just feels right for today.

I tried a few different Italian Wedding Soup recipes before I found this one which is far better than the others (in my opinion).  Directions in some recipes tell you to add the meatballs to the soup raw and cook them in the broth ...this recipe the meatballs are baked in the oven.  The taste is similar but I find the browned coloring more appetizing vs the ones cooked in the broth which look sort of gray.  Also, this recipe uses a small amount of white wine and it gives the broth a rich flavor that sets it apart from the other recipes.  Plus the bonus of getting to finish the rest of the bottle of wine!

Get your BIG pot out, this makes a lot of soup!!  I used an 8 quart pot and it was almost filled. I like to divide the leftovers into several containers and freeze it for another day.  Makes about 20 servings.

INGREDIENTS

MEATBALLS
1 pound ground turkey
3/4 pound turkey sausage, casings removed
3/4 cup white bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

SOUP
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup diced carrots (about 3 medium)
1 cup diced celery (about 2 large stalks)
4 boxes chicken broth (32 oz each)
1 1/2 - 2 cups dry white wine
1 cup small pasta (acini de pepe or ditalini)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 bag baby spinach (8-9 oz), remove stems
Salt & Pepper to taste
extra freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat oven to 350'F

2.  Prepare the meatballs:  Place ground meats, bread crumbs, garlic, Parmesan, milk, eggs, salt & pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork.  With a teaspoon, drop 1-inch meatballs (or smaller depending on your preference) onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned.  Set aside.

meatballs ready for the oven

3.  Prepare soup:  Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a large stock pot.  Add onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the chicken broth and wine and bring to a boil.  Add pasta to the simmering broth and cook an additional 6-8 minutes, until the pasta is tender.  Add the fresh parsley and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  Stir in spinach and cook for 1 minute, until spinach is just wilted.  Serve soup with extra freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

LOTS of leftovers ready for the freezer

Recipe adapted from:  RecipeGirl.com (check out her site, she has some great photos paired with the recipe)