Italian Wedding Soup

December 27, 2019

The term "wedding soup" comes from the Italian language phrase "minestra maritata" ("married soup"), which is a reference to the flavor produced by the combination/"marriage" of greens and meat. The soup has little beef-pork meatballs in a clear broth with greens. It's absolutely delicious!

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Yields: 8 Servings

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 small onion, grated 

⅓ cup Italian parsley, chopped 

1 large egg 1 teaspoon garlic, minced 

1 teaspoon salt

 1 slice fresh white bread, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces

 ½ cup grated Parmesan 

8 ounces ground beef

 8 ounces ground pork

 Freshly ground black pepper

Soup

12 cups low-sodium chicken broth 

1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole would be a good substitution) 

2 large eggs 

2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Meatballs

1Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1½ teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet.

Soup

1Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and curly endive and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

2Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with parmesan cheese if desired.

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