Italian wedding soup recipe
Not being Italian, I never tasted Italian wedding soup until I moved to Rhode Island, the most Italian state (by percentage of population) of any in the United States. The soup is not, as many assume, named for its popularity at Italian weddings. It's a mistranslation of the Italian name, ministra maritata. Maritata means "marriage", and refers to the union of vegetables and meat in the soup. Every cook has his or her own version of wedding soup. Some variations contain pasta or egg ribbons, but I'm not Italian, so I make it without pasta, and with larger-than-traditional meatballs, the size of walnuts in the shell. You can substitute kale for escarole, and beef or pork for the ground turkey. Italian wedding soup, the ultimate comfort food, freezes well, so make a batch while you feel great, and keep some in the freezer for a day when you have the blahs.
Italian wedding soup
Serves 6.
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage (not pre-cooked), removed from the casings
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tsp minced flat-leaf parsley
1 large egg
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
For the soup:
6 cups chicken stock (homemade or low-sodium store-bought)
1 small onion, diced
1 head escarole, chopped into bite-size pieces
Large pinch of red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, combine ground turkey, turkey sausage, cheese, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, egg, salt and pepper. With your hands, mix everything until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Form the mixture into meatballs the size of large walnuts, and place on a plate.
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over low-medium heat. Lightly brown the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and set aside.
In a Dutch oven or heavy stock pot, heat the chicken stock to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the onions and escarole, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onions are translucent and the escarole collapses. Add the red pepper flakes.
Reduce heat to simmer, and gently add the meatballs to the pot. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for 5 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Taste, and season with salt and pepper as needed (if you are using store-bought stock, you might not need any salt).
Serve hot, or let cool completely and refrigerate or freeze.
Well, I'll be damned. I thought I was a foodie, but I never knew "wedding soup" was a mis-translation. Thanks for enlightening me, Lydia. ;-)
Nice variation on a theme! Sounds yummy...and I like the idea of the Turkey Italian sausage (which we can get bulk); I make my hamburgers out of it. Happy October!
One of my favorite soups!
Oh who am I kidding? I love them all! *L*
Jean, I think that is a surprise to a lot of people, especially because versions of this soup are often served at weddings.
Alyce, the turkey sausage along with ground turkey makes really great little meatballs in this recipe.
CJ, I'm giggling.
This sound perfect for this Fall weather. Do you use breast or thigh for the ground turkey? Definitely making this!!!
Alyssa, I prefer breast and always get the 93% fat-free. But either will work, and if you like the flavor of turkey thigh, go right ahead and use that. It's a great soup and perfect for this transitional time of year (though I have a friend who makes a batch every week, all year round, and eats this soup almost every day).
I love escarole and Italian sausage so I'm sure I would love this!
Oh, yeah! Just the inspiration I was looking for. I bought a HUGE amount of different greens at the farmer's market, and have some italian sausage that needs using, so am going to make a version of this combined with Anna Thomas' green soup (see article in this edition of Eating Well or check out her new book Love Soup). Thanks!
This is the first time I have been attracted to Italian Wedding Soup, and now I can't wait to make it! If you freeze it, do you freeze it after adding the meatballs, or do you need to freeze them separately (so they don't fall apart)? (You can tell I'm a novice at this . . .)
Denise, I love Love Soup (you can see it's listed first in my recommended soup books), and I love Anna Thomas. I think this soup will love any greens you throw into it.
Judy, I freeze the meatballs in the soup (usually I pack the containers so there's a large portion of liquid relative to the volume of meatballs). Because they are browned before they go into the soup, they hold together very well. Be sure to reheat gently.
Thanks, Lydia!