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Tuesday morning I was sunning myself in 83 degrees. Tuesday night I was dragging my luggage through the parking lot at O’hare with the wind/rain/ice hitting me at a balmy 33 degrees. Awesome. Why, again, do we live here? We seem to ask ourselves that question yearly and yet we never move. Hmmm.
The past 2 days have been a bit of a system shock. Snowy weather + no food in the house + back to the saltmines = one slightly cranky Courtney. Time to get myself to a better place. Beautiful hydrangeas on sale at Fresh Market? Yes please. Comforting bowl of Italian Wedding Soup? On it.
I’m obsessed with this recipe. It definitely falls in my ‘top 5′ soup category. I find it really fun making teeny tiny little meatballs – they are super cute. And the ‘body’ of the soup comes together very easily so it doesn’t take long before you go from chopping away to sipping comfort. Let’s hope this melts the last of the snow on the ground away….I can see tulip bulbs!
Recipe Adapted from Ina Garten
Ingredients for meatballs:
- 3/4 lbs ground chicken
- 1/2 lbs italian chicken sausage, casings removed
- 2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 TBS milk
- 3 TBS freshly chopped parsley
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan
- salt & pepper
Directions for meatballs:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix above ingredients together with a fork until just combined. Drop by the TBS onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes. It should make about 30ish small meatballs.
Ingredients for soup:
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 6 carrots, chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 12 cups good chicken stock
- 3/4 cup good white wine (use the bottle you are sipping on!! Yum)
- 1 cup small pasta (stars, noodles, whatever you prefer)
- 1/3 cup freshly chopped dill
- cooked meatballs from above
- 12 ounces fresh spinach or kale, whatever looks freshest
- salt & pepper, to taste
- more parmesan, for sprinkling on top
Directions for soup:
Heat olive oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, carrots, and celery until tender, about 8 minutes. Pour in stock and wine and bring to a boil. Lower heat, add pasta, and cook for 7 minutes. Add in dill and meatballs and simmer for a few minutes. Add in spinach/kale and allow to cook for another minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls immediately and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
I REFUSE to put on my winter coat again.
Courtney
P.S. These changed my day and I love things like that so had to share – I hope they brighten yours:
[...] go with something light, bright, and satisfying. This soup has major nods to my favorite Italian wedding soup, but, it’s lightened up just a bit. Mini meatballs, to start, which are just too adorable. [...]
[...] I went from 80′s and sunny to 40′s and sunny. Not as shocking as my typical return from the sunshine state but let’s call a spade a spade – it’s not [...]
[...] 3 soups: Italian wedding Mexican chicken French [...]
[...] can’t be Sunday without making a big pot of soup for the week. This one is comfort dished up in a bowl and is a much needed dose of healthy after our last few rich meals [...]
This looks soooooo comforting – making my shopping list right now to make it tomorrow, thx for the ideas!!
It’s very comforting. Just what we need since it is 32 degrees and almost April – so depressing. Hope it warms you up!!
Wow, thats a really clveer way of thinking about it!
Oh gosh now I have to make this too!! I can’t keep up with you. Going to try and get it in this weekend, bet it’s great for leftovers for the week nights.
Good point. I hadn’t tohghut about it quite that way.