Italian Wedding Soup

After what has seemed like an endless holiday season of bad eating it is time to get back to normal! Time to start eating healthy, get back into a gym routine, and start saving some money by cooking meals with lots of leftovers to take to work for lunch.

Here in Boston, along with much of the country, we are feeling the cold. This bone chilling Polar Vortex was the perfect opportunity to try this Italian Wedding Soup recipe that I have had pinned for quite some time now.

This recipe makes a lot of soup. After having a bowl on Sunday I had plenty to take for lunch this whole week as well as freeze 2 large containers for future cold days.

My meatball recipe for this soup was part ground turkey and part sweet italian sausage. While you could go all turkey, I like to add a little sausage for the flavor. I also completely bake my meatballs in the oven rather than sear them in a pan with oil. Even baked they still get nice and browned on the bottom.

I was thrilled with how this recipe came out and how much flavor the meatballs had. Next time I am going a step further and using homemade chicken stock instead of store bought!

Recipe adapted from RecipeGirl.com

Italian Wedding Soup

Author: Emily Goodman

Ingredients

[b]FOR THE MEATBALLS[/b]
3/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb sweet italian sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 tsp minced garlic (1 large clove or 2 medium cloves)
4 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 tbsp milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Parchment paper[br][br][b]FOR THE SOUP[/b]
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion (1 small onion)
1 cup diced carrots (3 medium carrots)
1 tbsp celery salt
2 large 40oz cans of chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups dried pasta (I used bow-tie)
8 ounces fresh baby spinach
extra parmesan cheese, for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.[br][br][b]Prepare meatballs:[/b][br]
Place ground turkey, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, parmesan, milk, egg, salt and pepper in a bowl and combine gently.
Roll and drop 1-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.[br][br][b]Prepare soup:[/b]
Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a large stock pot.
Add onion, carrots, and celery salt. Saute until softened, approx 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the chicken broth and wine and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and add the pasta.
Simmer for an additional 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender.
Add the meatballs and simmer for 1 minute. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
Stir in spinach and cook for 1 minute, until spinach is just wilted.
Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated parmesan cheese.