Italian Wedding Soup
This sounds very good! Pasta, chicken, beef meatballs, cheese, spinach, yep, sounds really good! On my to cook list for sure. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
For the Beef Meatballs
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 small onion, grated
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons Italian bread crumbs, Shortcut
- 1½ teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg whites
For the Chicken
- 500 grams chicken breasts, (1 lb)
For the Soup
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1-2 carrots, thinly sliced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
- 12 cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder, (3 quarts)
- ¾ cup dry spaghetti, broken into ½ inch pieces
- 250 grams frozen spinach, thawed, water squeezed out , chopped, (8 oz)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- First thing we need to do is make the meatballs. Add all the Beef Meatball ingredients to a mixing and mix with your hands to combine. Shape into ½ to ¾ inch meatballs, Place meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about an hour.
- For the chicken, place in a large pot and cover with water to an inch over the chicken. If you want to make the chicken broth, use skin on chicken breasts, add a sliced carrot, onion, celery, and some peppercorn, these are additional ingredients needed and NOT listed in the ingredients list. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a low boil and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temp, this will provide you juicy chicken and a nice broth.
- When the chicken is cooled to room temp, remove from the pot and shred, then set the chicken aside. Pour the broth through a strainer and set aside, discarding the contents of the strainer.
- Now onto the soup preparation. Melt the butter in a large pot, add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes until the veggies are softened.
- Add the broth you just made and additional broth to make it 12 cups total, or just add 12 cups of broth you made from powder. Bring to a boil and taste, reduce heat to low, taste, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as desired. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Carefully add the meatballs and continue simmering for about 7-8 minutes, then add the pasta and cook for another 5 minutes, then add the spinach, then add the shredded chicken.
- Simmer for another 30 minutes to heat the chicken through. If you simmer longer the flavors will blend more. Serve.
Notes
I will price this when I make the beef meatballs. I will say fair cost for now.
Variant: 1. Add a handful or two of mushrooms, halved Straw mushrooms comes to mind, or sliced or chopped mushrooms of your choice.
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