Christinas Italian Wedding Soup Recipes

Steps:

• To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet.
• To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and curly endive and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with parmesan cheese if desired.

Steps:

• For the meatballs: Put the bread, garlic, onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper in a food processor and pulse until very finely ground. Add the parsley and pulse until finely chopped. Add the egg and pulse until combined. Add the beef, pork and Parmesan and pulse until very well mixed. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil. Roll the mixture into 1-inch meatballs, transferring them to the prepared baking sheet.
• For the soup: Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large, wide pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook, stirring gently occasionally, until browned on most sides and just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the meatballs to the baking sheet (they will cook again so don't worry about contamination). Repeat with the remaining meatballs.
• Add the carrot, celery and onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, Parmesan rind if using, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper and bring to a brisk simmer. Add the pasta or couscous and cook according to the package instructions for al dente.
• Add the escarole and meatballs to the soup and return to a simmer. Simmer until the escarole is slightly wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the Parmesan rind and discard. Sprinkle with the parsley and top with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Serve with more Parmesan on the side.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first 10 ingredients. Add chicken; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape into 1-in. balls. , For soup, in a stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery and onions; cook and stir 6-8 minutes or until onions are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer., Stir in stock, water, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Drop meatballs into soup; cook, uncovered, 10 minutes. Gently stir in pasta; cook 10-12 minutes longer or until meatballs are cooked through and pasta is tender., Stir in spinach. Top servings with parsley and cheese.

Steps:

• Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large, heavy pot over high heat; brown beef shank slice in hot oil until seared and browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Add onion, carrot, celery, water, bay leaf, 3 cloves peeled garlic, and black peppercorns; bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat falls off the bone and stock turns brown in color, 4 to 5 hours. Add more water if beef stock level gets below about 5 cups.
• Place beef short ribs into freezer until firm and very cold, about 15 minutes. Cut meat into cubes and return to freezer until almost frozen, about 30 more minutes.
• Whisk egg with parsley, 2 cloves garlic, and cream in a bowl. Stir in bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
• Place partially-frozen beef cubes into food processor and pulse with with 1/3 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper until beef is coarsely ground, 5 to 10 pulses. Pulse in bread crumb mixture until mixture is finely ground, about 5 more pulses. Transfer meat to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
• Strain beef stock into a large soup pot, discarding beef and vegetables. Mix chicken broth into beef stock and whisk in tomato paste. Bring broth mixture to a simmer and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Stir kale into broth; simmer kale until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Scoop 2-teaspoon portions of the meat mixture and roll into meatballs.
• Pour pastina into the simmering soup, cook for 5 minutes, and gently add meatballs. Simmer until meatballs are cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Serve in bowls garnished with a pinch of black pepper or a sprinkle of shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Steps:

• In medium bowl, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, basil and onion powder; shape into 3/4 inch balls.
• In large saucepan, heat broth to boiling; stir in escarole, orzo pasta, chopped carrot and meatballs. Return to boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook at slow boil for 10 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Steps:

• This soup takes a few days to prepare, but worth every bit of love and time you put into it. I am a pure bred Italian and got this recipe from my Mom and Aunt who are also pure bred Italian.
• DAY 1.
• With the 2 pounds of escarole (not endive); cut out core; wash, pat dry. Put in plastic bags (large bread bags work - each bag holds about a pound.) Squeeze out air; freeze. *Day 2, when ready to add to the soup, pound the frozen escarole (still in the bag) with the heel of your hand breaking escarole into bite-sized pieces. Dump into pot. Rinse the plastic bags with warm water to get most of the escarole pieces from the sides and dump the water into the pot. Discard the plastic bags - no mess. You are going to have a ton of utensils and pots to wash and take care of so this will save you some time.
• Throw everything into a LARGE pot - NOT THE ESCAROLE OR MEATBALLS (later for that). Cook chicken until falling off the bone with chicken broth, water, and veggies. Place colander over another large pot to catch all the soup; drain chicken. Put drained chicken in large bowl, cover; and refrigerate. Drain remaining soup through the colander; discard all those veggies. They have done their job. Refrigerate strained broth.
• Relax, you are done for the first day. Clean up the kitchen!
• DAY 2.
• Skim the grease off the cooled broth, return broth to REALLY LARGE pot; heat to simmer. While the soup is heating, skin, de-bone chicken and remove all that ugly stuff from your wonderful boiled chicken. Cut into pieces and dump into the broth. *Now, it's time for the escarole. Dump the frozen smashed escarole into hot broth. When the escarole has cooked down, (trust me, it will) slowly dump in the meatballs being careful not to splash the hot broth. Buy good store-bought ones. If you make your own, you will need an extra day. I tried it once and it is quite a job. You need 100 to 125 small frozen Italian meatballs, depends on your preference (and the size of your pot - better be LARGE). The meatballs are usually precooked so you only have to heat thoroughly. (Meatballs will swell as they cook; absorbing all that great broth, you will be glad you have a LARGE pot). Adjust spices. Serve with fresh, warm Italian bread to absorb all that wonderful soup and a simple salad. ENJOY!
• This leftover soup freezes well. Put leftover soup in plastic containers for gifts for a sick relative or friend. Everyone loves it. Not just another chicken and noodle soup! Even my grandchildren love it and eat every drop in their bowls including the greens. The escarole is masked by the great chicken flavor and they don't even know it's good for them. If you have never tried escarole, do it now. It is not bitter. Try it, you'll like it. And meatballs - what kid doesn't like meatballs?! - or adults for that matter.