Wedding Soup!

I was EXTREMELY disturbed this morning to wake up to an outdoor temperature of 53 F. Really? In August? I am beyond not OK with this!

So, I made soup. If you read my last post I mentioned I would be using half of my Gyro Inspired Meatballs in place of chicken meatballs. The soup turned out wonderful! It was just what I needed to warm me up on this cold day.

Another great treat today? A very dear friend of mine came up from the Twin Cities to visit! Never underestimate the warming power of a hug from a friend. :)

Thank you to my Mom for the recipe for the soup! It's just as delicious as I remember.

Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friend. Cheers!

Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 4-5

Meatballs *
1/2 lb ground beef (or chicken sausage or plain ground turkey or 1/4 lb beef & 1/4 lb pork sausage)
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 TBS dry bread crumbs
1 TBS Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp onion powder

Soup
6 cups chicken stock (store bought is fine)
2 cups thinly sliced fresh escarole or fresh spinach
1/2 cup orzo or ancini de pepe pasta, cooked
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 rib celery
1/2 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper

For the meatballs, in a medium bowl combine all meatball ingredients. Do not over mix, combine just until ingredients are evenly distributed and pull together. Shape into marble sized balls using a 1/2 tsp or the small size of a melon baller.

In a large saucepan, saute onion and celery until tender.

Add stock and bring to a simmer.

Stir in escarole/spinach**, carrot, and meatballs. Return stock to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, stir often.

Add cooked pasta. Warm through and serve.

* I used half of the recipe of my Gyro Inspired Meatballs in place of these meatballs this time around.

** I prefer the fresh spinach for this soup. I also like to wait until I add the pasta to stir in the spinach.