Italian Wedding Soup | Noshing With The Nolands

This soup is by Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten. I usually don’t sway to far from her recipes as they are so good. I made this for a dinner party not that long ago. I love serving soup at such an event. It is a nice switch from always having a salad course and it is usually choked full with as much veggies. I have made homemade chicken stock forever but haven’t found the time lately, it really is much healthier as you control the salt but I do use the lower sodium chicken stock that you buy in the store. This Italian Wedding soup recipe is so good you must try it!! You can tell we are lovers of soup here.

For The Meatballs

3/4 lb. ground chicken
1/2 lb. chicken sausage, casings removed (I have even used breakfast sausage)
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup Romano cheese , grated
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated plus extra for serving
3 Tbsp. milk
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and black pepper

For The Soup

2 Tbsp. good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup carrots, 1/4″ diced (3 carrots)
1/4 cup celery, 1/4″ diced (2 stalks)
10 cups Homemade Chicken Stock or store bought or more if soup sits
1 cup mini stars pasta
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh dill
12 oz. baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Preheat oven to 350F. Starting with the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Romano, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 tsp. salt and 1/3 tsp. pepper in a bowl and combine gently. Drop 1 -1 1/4″ meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. They will be gooey and don’t have to be perfectly round. Bake for 30 min. or until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside. Makes 40 meatballs.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil over medium low heat in a large pot. Add the onion, carrots and celery and saute until soft. 5 min., stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the star pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 min., until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 min. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 min. until spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve with a nice fresh bread or focaccia. If this soup sits for any length of time the pasta will absorb alot of the liquid and you will have to add more stock.