Italian Wedding Soup

I made this a few years ago for a new military couple who were just moving in to the neighborhood. They had driven across the country and since the Mr. knew the marine, he told them to come over for dinner when they got into town. I had no problem with it except that I had no clue what to make. What do you make someone who has been on the road for a week? Clearly not burgers or pizza but what is something that most people don't eat when on the road. Then it hit me... soup! I had Giada's Italian wedding soup recipe that I had been wanting to try and figured I would make that. It turned out to be a huge hit and the wife, who is now my very good friend, loved it. I will be honest, I don't think it was my personality that won her over, it was the soup. For some reason I have only made this soup twice, once for the couple and just recently. I love the soup but rarely think of making it or any other soup. I really should get into the habit of making this more often because it is delicious. I love the mini meatballs that are just bursting with flavor and the fact that this soup is just so easy to make, makes it a winner in my book. The only thing that takes time is forming the meatballs but it is well worth it in the end I think. We always add half of a pound of mini pasta like ditalini into the soup mainly because the Mr. likes them in there but I like it either way. I also used fresh spinach instead of endive because I could not find any in the stores out here.





Meatballs

• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/3 c. chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 slice fresh white bread, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/2 lb ground beef
  
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• Freshly ground black pepper

Soup

• 12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with Parmesan cheese if desired.

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