real life test kitchen: italian wedding soup
Italian Wedding Soup is based on a lie. Well, not really. It’s actually based on a mistranslation. The Italian name for the hearty, bone-warming soup is “minestra maritata,” which literally translates to “married soup.” The phrase isn’t meant to be literal though. It’s a play on words referring to the harmonious marriage of meat and vegetables.
I’ve tried a lot of Italian Wedding Soup recipes and this one from Framed Cooks is hands down my favorite. Hearty and delicious, my husband and I always fight over who gets the last bowl.
Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped finely
- 2 ribs of celery, chopped finely
- 1 medium white onion, chopped finely
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/3 cup bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ cup dried pasta (I like small shells)
- 1 lb fresh baby spinach
Directions:
- Heat oil in a deep, large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper, cover pot and cook veggies for 5 minutes, stirring now and then.
- While the veggies cook, combine the meat, egg, garlic, cheese, crumbs, and nutmeg.
- Uncover pot. Add brother and water, and then bring to a boil. When soup reaches boil, reduce heat a bit and start rolling the meat mixture into very small meatballs, dropping them into the soup as you go.
- When you are done with the meatballs, add the pasta, stir, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- When pasta is tender, stir in the spinach. When the spinach is wilted, the soup is ready. Taste, adjust seasonings, and serve.
Pro tip:
Unless you plan on eating the entire pot in one sitting (maybe you’re having a soup dinner party- I won’t judge. In fact, that actually sounds pretty fun), cook and store the pasta separately from the rest of the soup. On my first batch, I put everything in one huge Tupperware in the refrigerator. The pasta soaked up almost all of the broth so, when I went for a helping the next day, it was almost like a wet, mushy pasta casserole. It was still delicious, but it probably no longer qualified as soup.
I think Italian Wedding Soup is my all-time favoritest of favorite soups. How can you not like a soup that manages to cram meatballs, greens and pasta into one pot? Can NOT wait to try this version!
PS – have you ever tried a bit of lemon juice at the end to finish it? It does lovely things… :)
how can meatballs in a soup be embraced when my meatball cereal idea was laughed out of the room? this must be some kind of popularity contest.