Italian Wedding Soup

Show: Barefoot ContessaEpisode: Food with Love

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (95)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(95)

Cook Time:
45 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
8 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 45 min
Total:: 1 hr 15 min

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Ingredients

For the meatballs:

3/4 pound ground chicken
1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Italian Wedding Soup
Lori Massapequa, NY 11-05-2009
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BEST MEATBALLS EVER!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

If I could give the meatballs a 10 I would. I just wish the chicken sausage meat wasn't so expensive, because if you buy... good stock instead of making it, and then buy chicken chop meat and then chicken sausage, it make the soup costly. Other than that, this is an amazing soup, with or without the pasta!Read more
recipe Italian Wedding Soup
sarah irvine, CA 11-04-2009
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loved it!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

OOh, the mini meatballs came out so yummy! I could have eaten those meatballs all by themselves! The soup was wonderful! The... dill added a nice kick to the soup.Read more
recipe Italian Wedding Soup
S Westwood, MA 11-03-2009
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Great homemade taste
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Usually buy premade italian weddign soup but decided to give making it a try. I used ground turkey for the meatballs, i made... them super small so they browned quickly and added escarole instead of baby spinach. I thought the soup had more flavor the second day as the meatballs had time to marinate in the broth and add more flavor. I will definately be keeping this in my repeat recipe box.Read more
recipe Italian Wedding Soup
marianne roseburg, OR 10-31-2009
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really wonderful soup
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This is great soup. I've made it twice and my husband and I both love it. Very filling with a salad and the best... meatballs! Thanks so much for a recipe I will make again and again.Read more
recipe Italian Wedding Soup
Alex Cape Charles, VA 10-26-2009
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Excellent, light but hearty soup
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I will be making this soup all winter for sure. Made a couple substitutions that worked out well...I made the meatballs out... of ground venison and didn't have fresh grated cheese so I used regular parmesan and pecorino romano from a jar. I also made the meatballs much smaller - bite size - and baked them only for about 6-7 minutes knowing that they would finish cooking in the broth. I didn't have homeade chicken stock so I used about 6 cups of Trader Joe's all natural chicken broth and about 4 cups water with a couple chicken bouillon cubes thrown in since the broth wasn't salty enough. Used about 2/3 the amount of spinach in the recipe. Fantastic!! Read more
recipe Italian Wedding Soup
louise pembroke, MA 10-15-2009
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Best soup ever!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I am on a soup kick and have been trying a new one each week. Made this one today and it is by far the best soup I have made... so far. It is so delicous and healthy. I did find one trick by making so many soups and that is to cook the pasta separately and not all the way. Add it to your soup when you are ready to eat it and it will finish cooking when heated in the soup. This way the pasta does not absorb the liquid in the soup. I also like to freeze soups in individual containers, so I will add some of the reserved pasta to each bowl that has cooled off and is ready to freeze. Thanks Ina for another delicous soup recipe.Read more