Italian Wedding Soup

I love serving soup for dinner.  Most of the time, I prepare a big pot on the weekend and put it on the menu for dinner one day that next week.  This recipe happens to make a TON!  Sometimes I freeze leftovers in 16 ounce containers for later use but more often then not I leave the entire pot in the fridge to be eaten for lunches or for random snacking!

This soup requires a small amount of "stand over time" as you mix up the meatballs for baking and chop and saute the veggies.  It's worth it for the amount of prep ahead meals it yields if not for the yumminess factor alone!  

I combined elements of Ina Garten's Italian wedding soup recipe with one I found on Allrecipes and came up with a version of my very own!  I hope your family enjoys it as much as ours does!

Italian Wedding Soup

For the meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T dried parsley

3 T parmesan cheese

2T pecorino romano

2T milk

1 egg, beaten

salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork.

2.  Roll heaping teaspoons of the meat mixture into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  

3.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Makes about 50-60 little meatballs.

For the Soup:

2 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

3-4 carrots, chopped

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

12 cups chicken broth (3- 32 oz cartons) I use Natures Promise Organic

1/2 cup of white wine

escarole, about 1 cup chopped or 1 cup baby spinach

1 cup pasta

bay leaf

meatballs

1.  Heat oil in a large soup pot.  Saute onions and add in garlic for about a minute.  Add in carrots and continue to saute for another minute before adding in celery.  Saute the veggies for a few minutes more.

2.  Add broth, pasta, bay leaf and wine and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and add escarole and meatballs.  

3.  Cover and simmer for about an hour or until veggies are desired tenderness and the flavors have all come together.