Italian Wedding Soup is a staple in many North American restaurants, sandwich shops, delis, and even chain restaurants — but it isn’t even eaten in Italian weddings! This brothy soup with meatballs and green vegetables is actually a mistranslation of the southern Italian minestra maritata (“married soup”) — referring to the flavour produced by the “marriage” of the meat and the greens.
I’ve been craving this soup, ironically, since I moved closer to Italy than ever — but I haven’t seen it where I now live! This soup is delicious, hearty, healthy, and also helped clean out my fridge and freezer!
Bonus: if you’re like me and save parmesan rinds for soup, this is the perfect soup to use them in. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
Meatballs (makes 6 dozen mini meatballs)
630g ground beef
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp sage
2 Tbsp thyme
~1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
Soup
2/3 large pot of chicken stock
1/3 large pot of beef stock
2 shallots (slice in half if removing; finely chop if keeping in soup)
2 stalks of celery with leaves (slice in half if removing; finely chop if keeping in soup)
1 large carrot (slice in half if removing; finely chop if keeping in soup)
4-6 cloves of garlic (leave whole if removing; finely mince if keeping in soup)
A few large handfuls of spinach
Salt & pepper to taste
Meatballs
Pastina of choice (I used La Molisana Ditali N.45 since that was the smallest pasta available at my grocery store)
Optional: parmesan rinds
Garlic Bread
1 French baguette
75g-100g butter, softened and preferably unsalted
6 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch of parsley
Salt to taste
Optional: parmesan cheese or fennel
INSTRUCTIONS
Soup
- If you plan on keeping the finely chopped vegetables in the soup, fry with olive oil on medium heat in a large pot until softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (~1 minute). If you plan on removing the vegetables from the soup, skip this step.
- Pour chicken and beef stocks into your pot. If you plan on removing the vegetables, you can add the large pieces here, along with parmesan rinds. Bring to a light boil.
- Add raw meatballs to the soup and wait until they are cooked (see below). Bring to a simmer afterwards. Scrape off foam, impurities, and layer of oil (especially if you added parmesan rinds).
- In a separate pot, cook your pasta as per the instructions on the package.
- About 10 minutes before serving, this is when you remove the large vegetable pieces. Add spinach to soup and continue to simmer until ready to eat.
- To serve: put pasta in bowls and cover with soup and meatballs. Freshly crush black pepper and garnish with parmesan cheese. Serve with a couple slices of garlic bread!
Meatballs
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure to mix well: it is easier with hands.
- Roll mixture into small balls, ~2cm in diameter.
- Add to soup (it is easiest to add in batches of a dozen at a time). You will know when they are cooked because they will float to the top — it is cute to see!
Garlic Bread
- Preheat oven to 205°C.
- Cut baguette in ~10 cm pieces. Cut those in half.
- Mix butter with garlic, parsley, and salt. Spread generously on open faces of bread and place on a parchment-lined baking tray.
- When oven is hot, put baking tray in middle and bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are golden.
- Once cooked, let cool for a few minutes then serve.
