Restaurant Recipes

Nature's Table Italian Wedding Soup

There are probably as many recipes for Italian Wedding Soup as there are interpretations of the savory concoction's origins.

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Yield: About 12 cups

Many food historians suggest that the name is the result of a simple mistranslation, believing that the name recalls the delicious marriage of the soup's ingredients. Other sources consider the savory soup a union of resources. In the rural regions of southern Italy and Sicily, the soup represented an amalgamation of ingredients -- one household contributed chopped meat, another gave up a fat hen, a family might forage for greens or a group of villagers convene to turn out handmade pastas.

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground pork or veal
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

Soup

  • 1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/2 cup diced carrot
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic in 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon Spike All-Purpose Seasoning
  • 1/4 pound uncooked orzo pasta
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water
  • Grated Romano cheese to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Meatballs

  1. Combine ground meats, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper to taste, parsley and 1 clove chopped garlic. Form into tiny meatballs.
  2. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes.
  3. Remove from sheet and set aside.
  4. Soup: Microwave spinach according to package directions.
  5. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out all moisture and set aside.
  6. Sauté diced onion, celery and carrot, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil, 5 minutes or until onion is transparent.
  7. Add chicken broth, basil, Spike and let simmer 5 minutes.
  8. Add orzo. Let cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
  9. Add cornstarch mixture, stirring slowly until soup begins to thicken.
  10. Add spinach to soup, followed by meatballs.
  11. Top with grated Romano and serve.

Nutrition

Per cup: Calories223; Fat 13.3g (3.8 sat.); Carbohydrate 12.8g; Cholesterol 45mg; Sodium 593mg; Protein12.9g


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