Italian Wedding Soup

This soup is so easy to make, a little time consuming but well worth it. I like to serve it with a nice rustic crusty bread, or I make my Garlic Rosemary Bread, the recipe is here on my blog.  This is hearty and great on chilly days. I make a large pot and freeze half and use for another time.

What You Will Need:
Measuring Cup
Measuring Spoons
Whisk
Sharp Knife
Large Pot
Parchment Paper *Optional*
Mixing Bowl Small
Mixing Bowl Large
Large Baking Sheet *Optional*
Wooden Spoon
Ladle
Serving Bowls

Meatballs:
1-Onion finely chopped or grated
1/3-Cup Dried Parsley
1-Egg Large
2-Teaspoons Garlic Minced
1/2-Teaspoon Salt
1-Cup Bread Crumbs or 1-slice of white bread, crust trimmed and torn into small pieces
1/2-Cup Parmesan Cheese Grated
1-Pound Ground Beef (Hamburger) *I use 80-20, meaning 20% fat
*Note: Sometimes I use 8-Ounces ground Sweet Sausage & 8-Ounces of the ground beef*
1/2-Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
1/2-Teaspoon Salt
1/2-Cup Dry White Wine

Directions For The Meatballs:
Line your baking sheet with Parchment Paper. I chose to just use my counter top and laid the Parchment on top.  Put the first 6-ingredients into the large mixing bowl and mix with your hands. Once blended, add in the remaining ingredients, mix well. Shape the ground beef mixture into little balls about 2-inches, you can make them smaller if you like. Just roll the meat around in your hands.  Lay each meatball that you make onto the parchment paper.  Keep doing this until all of the ground beef mixture is gone. Set aside. I had extra meat mixture so I made larger meatballs and put them in a Ziplock Freezer bag and froze them for another time. There's 50-meatballs that I had used for the soup.

Soup:
4-Carrots Cut On A Diagonal
4 32-Ounce Boxes Organic Sodium-Free Chicken Broth
1-Pound Kale *Remove the leaves from the stems by holding with one hand and stripping upwards with the other.* After you remove from the stems, roll the Kale into a small bunch and chop with a Sharp Kitchen Knife.
2-Eggs Large
3-Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2-Teaspoon Salt
1/2-Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
2 1/4-Cups Dry Orzo *I didn't have any on hand so I used medium size dry Shell Pasta*

Directions For Soup:
Add all of the Chicken Broth into the large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Drop the meatballs into the broth one at a time. Add in the Kale and Carrots. Cook until the Carrots, meatballs and Kale are cooked through and tender, about 8-10 minutes.  Add the pasta to the soup and gently stir with the wooden spoon.

While the soup is cooking, take your small mixing bowl and crack in the 2-eggs, be careful as not to get the shells inside the bowl.  Whisk the eggs and then add in the Parmesan Cheese, continue whisking until well blended. With the wooden spoon, gently stir the soup in a circular motion.  Now, drizzle the egg and cheese mixture into the soup, stirring gently for about a minute.


























Check the pasta and see if it's Al Dente, not too soft, firm to the bite. You don't want your pasta mushy or too firm. Ladle the soup into serving bowls.  You can serve with Crusty Bread or my Garlic Rosemary Bread. I tuck a piece into the bowl of soup and serve that way. You can also add a sprinkling of cheese, you can never have enough cheese.  Mangiare!!