How to Make Italian Wedding Soup
Italian Wedding Soup
It's been a long cold winter so far here in Ontario, Canada and I've been busy making soup a little more than the average year. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy soup and make it all year round, but because of the harsh winter it seems to be on our menu more so these days.
Today I decided to make Italian Wedding Soup, a favorite of my husbands. I'm not too sure and maybe someone could tell me, but traditionally are the meatballs in this kind of soup made with beef? I've always made them with pork myself but I am curious what most people use. I would like to try making the meatballs from ground lamb one day soon as well.
I've broken the following recipe up into two sections so that I could show you how I make the meatballs, and then the soup.
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Meat in Italian Wedding Soup
What kind of meat do you use in your Italian Wedding Soup?
Ingredients
The first step to making Italian Wedding Soup is to make the meatballs. This is the most time consuming part of this recipe. If you prefer not to make the meatballs and skip this step all together my suggestions would be to use any of the following:
1. Frozen meatballs
2. Cut up sausages
3. Leave out the meat altogether
4. Add ground meat
Cook Time
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: one hour
Serves: 4 - 8 people
Ingredients
- 1 pound of ground pork (I used Italian mild)
- 1/2 of a cooking onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1/2 tsp. of basil
- 1/2 tsp. of oregano
- 1/2 tsp. of thyme
- 1/4 plus 3 tbs of breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg beaten
Instructions
- In a medium size bowl add the ground pork, chopped onion and garlic, spices, and bread crumbs mixing well.
- Next add the beaten egg and again mix really well.
- Here come the fun part. You can make the meatballs as small or as big as you like. I prefer mine small.
- With a measuring spoon, measure out slightly over a tsp. of the meat mixture.
- Roll between the palms of your hands. Place on a plate.
- Once all the meatballs are made, set aside until you have the soup made.
- I set my meatballs in the refrigerator until I'm ready for them.
- Please note: The meatballs can be made the day before and stored covered in the refrigerator.
Photo Tutorial - Making Meatballs
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Ingredients
Onto the Soup - Let's Get Cooking!
- 1 Tbs. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 of a large onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 cups of vegetable broth *optional
- 6 cups of chicken broth
- 3 carrots peeled and sliced
- 6 squares of spinach
- 1/2 cup of Acini di Pepe pasta
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a 6 quart stock pot or Dutch oven heat the EVO (extra virgin olive oil)
- Prepare onion, garlic, and carrots
- Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook for approximately 4 minutes
- Add the broth to the pot. I happened to have vegetable stock left from a meal I made last night so I added it to the pot.
- Add the prepared carrots and bring everything to a boil.
- Add 6 squares of frozen spinach. Please see picture below for the size of the squares.
- Next add the pasta and stir.
- On a slated spoon carefully add the meatballs to the pot and gently stir.
- Cover and turn the heat down to a simmer, and continue to cook for 25-30 minutes.
- Serve and ENJOY!
- Along with the soup I served a salad and fresh buns with butter.
Photo Tutorial - Making the Soup
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Handy Kitchen Tools - For Making This Recipe
© 2014 Susan Zutautas
