Best Italian Wedding Soup Recipe: Though it sounds elegant, Italian wedding soup is actually just a classic comfort food dish made by Italian peasants who would just toss a few common items into a pot for a quick and filling supper. Fortunately, the outcome was quite tasty!
This recipe for Italian dinner honors the heritage with fresh meatballs, a flavorful broth, and either pasta or couscous. The meatballs are great on their own, in this soup, or added to traditional spaghetti and meatballs. They roast separately. They can be combined, molded, and baked a day in advance, then stored in the refrigerator.
You’ve got a tasty supper when you serve each cup of soup with a piece of Italian bread. Put this dish on your roster of go-to warm soups!
Best Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
It’s called Italian wedding soup; why is that?
- This soup has nothing to do with Italian weddings, despite its name. The dish is known as “minestra maritata” in Italian, meaning “marriage soup,” due to the harmonious combination of pasta, beef, and veggies. Over time, it was dubbed Italian wedding soup.
What ingredients does Italian wedding soup contain as meatballs?
- This soup’s meatballs might be its greatest feature! They are made with mild Italian sausage and ground beef mixed together 50/50. Do you like spice?
- Use spicy Italian sausage if you’d like. Standard meatball components like egg, panko breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper are also present, along with savory garnishes like chopped parsley, garlic, and parmesan cheese.
Which kind of pasta works best for wedding soup?
- Because pearl couscous is tiny and gives you a bite out of every bite, it’s ideal for this recipe! If pearl couscous isn’t available,
- You can substitute any type of small pasta. Consider ditalini, orzo, or tiny shells. It’s crucial to use pearl couscous if you plan to use it. Regular couscous will absorb too much liquid, therefore, it won’t work.
Pearl couscous: what is it?
- The name “pearl” comes from the way this couscous is shaped. Another name for it is Israeli couscous. Pearl couscous is best prepared like a pasta by boiling and draining it, or as this recipe calls for simmering it in broth.
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How do stock and broth differ from one another?
- Whereas stock is derived from bones, broth is prepared from meat and veggies. When you need more cups for a soup, broth works best because of its gentler flavor and lighter color, which complement the other ingredients well.
Components of the meatballs:
- Lean ground beef, half pound
- Mild Italian sausage, half a pound
- Grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup freshly cut flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
- One big egg
- One finely minced garlic clove
- Panko breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup
- A half-tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
- Nonstick cooking spray
ABOUT THE SOUP:
- One tablespoon of olive oil
- Chopped carrots, one cup
- Chopped one cup yellow onion
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- three cloves of coarsely chopped garlic
- One teaspoon of kosher salt
- One tablespoon of ground black pepper, with extra for garnish
- Six cups chicken broth, fourteen ounces can beef broth, and one cup pearl couscous or little spaghetti
- Five ounces of baby spinach
- Double-scoop fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
- Set the oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450oF for the meatballs. Cover a baking sheet with a thick layer of sturdy aluminum foil.
- Combine the meat, sausage, egg, panko, garlic, parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper in a medium-sized bowl and mix everything thoroughly. Roll the mixture into about forty meatballs, each about 1/2 inch wide. After lightly misting the baking sheet with foil-lined nonstick spray, place the meatballs in a single layer.
- Bake the meatballs until they are firm to the touch, 6 to 8 minutes. Increase the heat to broil. Broil the meatballs until browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Set aside.
- For the soup: In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onion, and celery, and cook until the vegetables start to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Cook the spinach for one minute, or until it has barely wilted. Add the meatballs and simmer for two minutes, or until the meatballs are heated through. After turning off the heat, add the lemon juice and mix.
