Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

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I grew up on this Italian-American soup, and of course each family has their own special version of it. And yes, it is served at some weddings! The meatballs are traditionally made of beef, veal and pork, but I have lightened them with turkey breast mince. You could use 200g (7oz) lean beef and 200g (7oz) veal and it would still be within the calorie count. In the States, I use escarole to garnish, but in the UK you can substitute frisée.

Serves 4.

Calories 352 | Carbs 18g | Sugar 5g | Protein 46g | Fiber 3g | Fat 10g | Sat Fat 3.5g | Salt 2.3g

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 sweet white or yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1 celery stick, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 litre (1-3/4 pints) fresh chicken stock, preferably homemade
  • 400g (14oz) minced turkey breast or 200g (7oz) minced lean beef and 200g (7oz) minced veal
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon each dried oregano, basil and parsley
  • 40g (1-1/2 oz) Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
  • 70g (2-1/2 oz) acini di pepe (resembles tiny beads)
  • Salt and pepper

To serve

  • 40g (1-1/2 oz) frisée or shredded escarole
  • 4 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions

  1. Heat a soup saucepan over a medium heat, then add the oil, onion, celery and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring until golden. Add the garlic and cook for a further 1 minute. Pour in the stock and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
  2. Mix the minced turkey or beef and veal, the egg, dried herbs, 20g (3/4 oz) of the cheese and some salt and pepper together and roll into tiny meatballs about 2.5cm (1in) in size. (You should have about 16 meatballs.)
  3. Add the meatballs to the soup and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the acini di pepe and cook for 5 minutes; you may need to adjust the stock and add a little extra.
  4. Serve in soup bowls, sprinkled with the remaining grated cheese and topped with the frisée or escarole and parsley.

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Cover courtesy of Kyle Books


Excerpted with permission from Skinny Pasta by Julia Azzarello (Kyle Books, May 2019).

  • Published on Jun 11, 2019
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