Soup

From January 2011

From January 2011

I love soup soooooooo much.  Last night I tried Ina Garten's Italian Wedding Soup, a derivation of many recipes I've seen that use an egg broth. I liked the way the meatballs looked on paper and thought the dill idea was intriguing. I made it almost word for word and I have to say, it was delicious! August helped put all the meatballs and spinach in the pot - he loves helping with dinner.

I got 48 spoon-sized meatballs (6'ish per 280 calorie bowl if you're counting). I made these up while Augie was napping but you could also bake ahead and freeze for soup during the week. Here's the recipe:

Italian Wedding Soup

2008, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, All Rights Reserved

Show: Barefoot ContessaEpisode: Food with Love

Rated: 5 stars out of 5

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• Cook Time:

  45 min

• Level:

  Easy

• Yield:

  8 servings
  
  
  
  
  
  

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.