As a former caterer I am well acquainted with Italian weddings. Lots and lots of good food and copious amounts of homemade treats for the very important cookie table. However, Italian Wedding Soup was only just a good taste memory from many Easters ago. Of course, I didn’t have the old recipe (was it from Cuisine?) so I had some work to do.
My research took me to a soup that may have originated in Spain. Minestra Maritata, a Neapolitan soup of meat and greens got its name from the way the ingredients in this soup “si sposono bene” or marry well together. Just like the feast of the seven fishes, it’s debated whether the current recipe originated in Italy, or with the Italian American community, possibly in Pittsburgh Pa. The ingredients traditionally include chicken stock, meatballs or sausage, a green leafy vegetable and a small pasta. After much comparing of recipes, I chose to use and slightly adapt the one from the Barefoot Contessa using ground turkey and turkey sausage along with a touch of lemon peel in the meatballs. Homemade stock will always make the best soup but low sodium chicken broth is a reasonable substitution. My pasta of choice was acini de pepe, translated peppercorns in English.
Italian Wedding Soup
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
For the meatballs
- 3/4 lb ground turkey
- 1/2 lb uncooked turkey sausage casings removed
- 1/2c fresh white bread crumbs
- 2 t minced garlic
- it grated lemon peel
- 3T chopped parsley leaves
- 1/4c freshly grated Pecorino Romano
- 1/4c freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
- 3 T heavy cream
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
For the soup
- 2T olive oil
- 1c minced onion
- 1c finely diced carrots
- 3/4c finely diced celery
- 10c homemade chicken stock
- 1/2c dry white wine
- 1c small pasta, I used acini de pepe
- 12oz washed and trimmed baby spinach
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- For the meatballs, combine ground turkey, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley Pecorino, Parmesan, cream, egg, 1t salt, and 1/2 t pepper in a bowl and mix gently with a fork. Drop 1 to 1 1/4 inch meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet. I used a small scoop for this, but a teaspoon would work as well. You should get about 40 meatballs. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cooked through and browned. Mine exuded a bit of cheese but that will be taken care of when added back to the soup. Set aside.
- While the meatballs are baking, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and saute until softened, 5-6 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Bring the broth back to a simmer and add the pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, probably less than a minute. Taste soup for salt and pepper. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.
Additional notes: My Le Creuset 5 1/2 quart French oven was perfect for making this soup.I stressed raw uncooked turkey sausage because there are quite a few sausages that are already pre cooked. I made the soup ahead to the point of adding the chicken stock and wine.Store the meatballs in a separate container. Before serving, bring the soup back to the boil, return to a simmer, then add the pasta, and cook according to package directions. Add the meatballs, simmer for 1 minute, then the spinach for another minute. Serve with additional Parmesan.