Italian Wedding Soup

On the third day of spring it snowed...can you believe it? Well when it snows and its cold I love to make soup.  I have never made Italian wedding soup so that morning I went online and read a bunch of soup recipes and came up with the below recipe.  It is a mixture of three different recipes.

Here is what you'll need:

For the meatballs:

• 1 lb ground beef or chicken
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 chopped parsley
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

For the soup:

• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 4 stalks celery, sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 head of Escarole, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup uncooked pasta (can use orzo, alphabets or tubellini)

In a mixing bowl combine ground meat, onions, parsley, egg, bread crumbs, parm cheese, salt and pepper.  Mix well with a fork or your hands.

Now roll the meat into very small meatballs and place on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from baking sheet and set the meatballs aside.

 Now in a soup pot heat up some olive oil and add the onions and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.

Now add the slice carrots, parsley, and celery. Saute for 5 minutes or until the veggies start to soften.

Now add the chopped Escarole.  The escarole will begin to wilt after a few minutes 

Now add the chicken stock and the white wine. Bring to a simmer and cover for 15 minutes.

Notice how the escarole wilted and became nice and soft.

Now add the meatballs.

Next add the uncooked pasta and let simmer until the pasta is cooked al dente.

There you have a delicious soup.  

Serve with some fresh Cheese and crusty bread!