Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 Egg
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 cup panko
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano or italian seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Soup

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, julienned
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• Equal part celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 qts chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white wine or 1/4 cup of your favorite vinegar
• 1/2 cup tiny pasta (or not)
• Green Vegetables (quantities are for a single one).
  • 3-6 cups (baby) spinach
  • 3-6 cups Tuscan (or boring) kale
  • Escarole (haven't tried)

Directions

• Make meatballs. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. I find the best utensil is your hands. Meatballs should be much smaller than you think. NYT recipe says a heaping teaspoon, which apparently makes 80.
• Fry meatballs in a large pot over high heat. You may want to do multiple batches if you ended up with 80 meatballs. When done, remove meatballs and set aside.
• Add onion, carrot, and celery to the pot and cook until the vegetables begin to get tender, around 10 minutes.
• Add garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add meatballs and broth to the pot and bring to a simmer.
• If using hearty greens like kale, add them now.
• Add pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, around 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach until wilted.
• Apparently some fresh garlic right now would be great.

Commentary

Not sure if I care for pasta in soups. It's not substantial enough to really add anything. Maybe next time I'll try using barley, which will totally muck up the timing.

I had extra time on my hands once and tried caramelizing the onions first, but in the end it didn't fit the vibe of the dish. The sweetness I think distracts from the savory punch, and the white wine and carrots already add a good whack of sweetness.

References

• NYT Cooking is the main inspiration.
• Adam Ragusea
• Food Network