Italian Wedding Soup
This classic soup is always a crowd-pleaser!
Servings 4
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 lb. ground sausage (a mix of turkey and pork is nice)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated parmigianno regianno
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
For the soup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 1/2 cup chopped celery (about two ribs)
- 1/2 cup chopped or grated carrots
- 1 leek chopped (white and light green parts only)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup white wine (optional)
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (such as Better than Bouillon) (optional)
- 3/4 cup uncooked small pasta such as ditalini or orzo*
- 2 cups baby spinach sliced julienne (measure before slicing)
For serving:
- grated parmigianno regianno
- minced fresh parsley
Instructions
For the meatballs
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil sprayed with non-stick spray (or coat with a thin layer of vegetable oil).
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Using your hands is often best to get everything uniformly mixed.
- Form small meatballs no larger than 1" across (you can use a scoop), placing them on the baking sheet as you go. This recipe makes 30 to 40 meatballs, depending on how small you make them.
- See notes for an alternative cooking suggestion before proceeding!
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meatballs are lightly browned and cooked through.
For the soup
- Add the olive oil and heat over medium until shimmering.
- Add the onions, celery, carrots, and leeks and cook until soft, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and continue sauteeing until fragrant (about a minute).
- If using the wine, pour it in now and let sizzle to cook off the alcohol.
- Pour in the chicken broth, plus the bouillon (if using). Raise heat to medium-high and bring to a light boil.
- Carefully add the meatballs and the pasta. Adjust heat to maintain an active simmer (e.g., reduce to about medium), and allow the soup to cook until the pasta is tender (per the time indicated on the packaging - likely about 10 minutes).
- When pasta is thoroughly cooked, reduce heat to low. Stir in the spinach. Taste, and adjust seasoning
- Serve with grated parmesan cheese and minced parsley.
Notes
* Use more or less pasta to control the heartiness of the soup. The soup in the photos used 3/4 cup of dried ditalini. Use a full cup for a bulkier soup; use 1/2 cup for a brothier soup.
Meatball Notes
When using meat in a soup recipe, I always feel like it's a waste of a major flavor opportunity if we don't take advantage of fond. Fond is the dark layer left behind when sauteeing meat in a pot. It's basically caramelized meat bits and is super flavorful.
Now, the challenge with cooking 30 or so meatballs in a pan or pot is that you have to do it in batches, which can definitely add time to the cook. Baking all of the meatballs together in the oven is much faster, and I created this recipe to take advantage of that speed in mind.
However, you can have the best of both worlds: fond and fast-cooking meatballs. Here's what you do:
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium until shimmering in the pot where you'll be making the soup. Add 10 or so meatballs to the pot, close together, but not touching. Whatever will fit.
Add the remaining meatballs to the baking sheet and place in the oven, using the directions above.
Cook the small batch in the pot until browned on the bottom side, about 10 minutes. Then carefully flip over using tongs. Transfer to a plate. Note that the meatballs are not cooked through at this point and are not safe to taste.
Deglaze the pot with a pour of white wine, and continue with the soup portion of the recipe above. The small batch of meatballs adds extra flavor to the soup, while the remaining meatballs cook together in the oven.