Italian Wedding Soup

I found this when I lived in Georgia and worked in the historic area of Columbus. There was, it’s been forever since I have been back, a deli that made just about any sandwich with any type of bread my favorite is and was chicken salad on a croissant. They would make a meal with salads of types, pasta etc. They had this soup and I was hooked. So I had to learn to make. So here is my adaptation of different recipes I have seen.

Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

Meatballs:

1 vidiala onion, grated

1 tblsp dried parsley

1 large egg

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 slice fresh white bread, bread torn into small pieces

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

8 ounces ground beef

8 ounces ground pork

Ground black pepper

Soup:

8 cups chicken broth (made with Better than Bouillon)

1 pound curly endive, escarole, collard greens, (whatever is available but a hearty green) coarsely chopped

2 large eggs

2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Acino di Pepe pasta, these are little ball like pasta very hearty can stand up to being in a soup, (found mine on Amazon since my stores didn’t have)

Directions

To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese. Then the beef and pork and lastly the salt & pepper.

Using 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet. Either pan fry or bake meatballs, pan fry will brown and give off a better taste (in my opinion). Most recipes will say to drop into broth.

To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the greens and pasta, simmer until they are 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.

Add the meatballs. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

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