Guests at an Italian wedding might wonder, “Where’s the soup?” In fact, Italian Wedding Soup is not named for the marriage party but rather because all of the ingredients in the dish are so well married together in a happy union of tastes and textures.
Just a few ingredients are needed to make this hearty, healthy soup. It is substantial enough to make a whole, well-balanced meal. Using store-bought chicken broth (sold in boxed containers) makes it easy to make the soup quickly. It is recommended to use 1 container of low sodium broth together with the regular broth to reduce the amount of total salt.
Nutritious Greens
Leafy greens are a rich source of folic acid, calcium, iron and Vitamins A, C, K, and E and other important nutrients. They are also a good provider of dietary fiber. They taste good and made a terrific base for hearty soups.
Most any type of leafy green can be used. Mustard greens, collard greens, and certain varieties of kale are ideal. Regular, curly kale tends to have rather thick stalks, so it’s better to find Lacinto, or dinosaur kale, but if using standard kale allow about 5 extra minutes of cooking time.
Spinach can be used, but it is soft and cooks very quickly, so it is not preferred. Certain Chinese greens can be used, but vegetables like bok choy tend to have tough or watery stalks, so they are a last choice.
Italian Wedding Soup Recipes
Meatball Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef (not too lean, 85-90% lean works best)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3 cloves garlic (or to taste)
- 1 tsp oil (olive or canola)
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste (not too much salt as broth and cheese have salt)
Directions:
- Combine meatball ingredients together
- Roll in the palm of the hand into small meatballs, approx ¾ to 1” diameter (do not make them larger – larger meatballs will not cook through and will be too large to eat.
- Set meatballs aside and make soup
Soup ingredients:
- 3 quarts chicken broth
- 1 lb. (or 1 bunch) escarole, collard greens, swiss chard or similar greens, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
- some chopped carrots (about 1/2 bag of baby carrots)
- 1 1/4 lbs. cheese tortellini (smaller or better) or other pasta (fresh or dry)
Directions:
- Chop carrots and greens
- Bring broth to a boil over med-high heat
- Add meatballs and greens. There is no need to cook the meatballs in advance because they will easily cook in the soup.
- Add tortellini or dry pasta. Cook until tortellini soft and they start to rise, approx 5-7 minutes. Dry pasta or dry tortellini will require extra time to cook and should be added earlier
Serve topped freshly grated pecorino romano cheese.
Italian Wedding Soup is a popular winter favorite with Italian-Americans. Experiment with different kinds of greens, or try a similar soup, Beans and Greens.
Annabella Gualdoni - Annabella Gualdoni is a lawyer by education but works an educator and real estate professional. She has bought, sold, and renovated ...
