The Truth Behind Italian Wedding Soup (It’s Not What You Think)

• A Real Italian Soup
• Italian Wedding Soup: A Step-by-Step Masterpiece
• Make it the Best Bowl Ever
• What Goes with It?
• Why Wedding Soup's Tradition & Recipes Are Desirable Today
• FAQs

A Real Italian Soup

In order to really make Italian Wedding Soup, it is crucial that it consist of just the right ingredients. This is not a complicated dish, but it relies heavily on the quality of traditional Italian cuisine; like many such dishes, success or failure lies in its parts. Let's take a look at the three essential elements that make up this soup: the broth, the meatballs, and the greens.

The Broth: The Foundation

A soup is only as good as its broth. While canned chicken broth will do in a pinch or a hurried moment, a genuine Italian soup demands better. In its day, the broth for minestra maritata was often made from boiling ham hocks, pork skins, or whatever scraps of meat were around to extract every drop of flavor.

Nowadays, the basic for a rich homemade chicken broth is that it should be not murky, but clear, a gold color almost good enough to drink on its own. The broth sets off the other ingredients in this dish, so don't skimp on making it good. If you have time, use whole chickens or their carcasses and boil them up with onions, carrots, and celery for a few hours. Your kitchen will smell great and so will your soup.

Meatballs: Tiny Morsels of Joy

Perhaps this is the best part of all. The meatballs in an Italian Wedding Soup have their very own identity in size. They should be minute—no bigger than a ball bearing or a fresh lollo lemon. This will ensure that each spoonful (at least) includes some of the meatball, some pasta, and some of the leaves.

The traditional meat mixture includes a blend of ground beef and pork, mixed with breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and fresh parsley. The pork supplies fat and flavor, ensuring the shrimp-like meatballs remain succulently tender even when they are simmering in the scalding broth.

Greens: The Necessary Bitterness

And this is where the "marriage" takes place. The overly rich, fatty meatballs must be set off by something a little bitter: in this case, some type of green. The most traditional choice is escarole (scarola). It has thick leaves which do not turn to mush in hot water and its slight bitterness provides the perfect foil to the gravy of the meat.

If you are unable to find escarole, then other greens having thick leaves such as chicory, spinach, kale, and Swiss chard can still be used. But since spinach collapses like a punctured balloon, you must add it at the last possible moment before serving.

Pasta: Only Small Shapes

Finally, we have the pasta. Now you want a small shape, pastina. Acini di pepe (tiny peppercorns) is the classic choice; but orzo, ditalini, and small stars (stelline) are all excellent substitutes. The pasta will confer body to the soup so that now we have not merely an appetizer, but a substantial entrée.

Italian Wedding Soup: A Step-by-Step Masterpiece

After identifying the participants, it's time to prepare the grand event at home in this way. This recipe yields six to eight servings, and freezes beautifully.

The Meatballs

1/2 pound Ground Beef (85% lean) Of course!

To start the soup base, prepare the meatballs: In a large mixing bowl, combine beef, pork, bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, egg, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Gently mix everything together by hand. If the meatballs are overworked, then they will be tough. Mix the ingredients until it is just blended.

Shape the mixture into mini meatballs, approximately 3/4 inch to 1 inch in diameter. You should get 40-50 meatballs. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pro Tip: if you prefer, you can brown these in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 15-20 minutes or bake them directly into the broth. The baking step has the added benefit of giving them a good, firm texture and helps keep the soup less greasy.

Soup Base Preparation

While the meatballs are baking (or resting), heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat (vegetable oil will work as a good replacement). Add in the carrots, celery, and onions (this is called a soffritto mix). Sauté for around 6-7 minutes until the onions are soft and the vegetables start to wilt and turn somewhat translucent. Throw in the piece of Parmesan rind if you're using it.

Let the Broth Simmer

Now, add the chicken broth to the pot. And check the kitchen now, Parmesan rind? Throw it in. It gives the soup a rich salty flavor that blends perfectly. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat as low as possible and let simmer for about ten minutes of cooking time to blend flavors.

Cooking Meatballs and Pasta

Turn the broth up until it begins boiling more gently again. If you baked your meatballs, drop them right in now. If you are cooking them raw, lay them in the simmering broth.

Uncooked pasta goes right into the pot. Stir gently in order not to stick. Let soup simmer this way until the pasta is al dente and the meatballs cooked through. (This takes usually about 8-10 minutes, depending on what type of noodles you've used.)

The Union of Greens

Lower heat. The escarole must be stirred in at this point. Although it may appear to be a lot of greens, it will wilt down significantly within only minutes. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until greens are tender. If you are using spinach, add it now and turn off the heat immediately: the residual heat will cook it just as well.

The Final Seasoning

Remove the Parmesan rind. Now taste your soup. This is very important. Add salt and pepper as needed. If it tastes "flat," simply add a pinch more salt or squeeze of fresh lemon juice to give it some life.

Make it the Best Bowl Ever

Though you have a wonderful Italian Wedding Soup recipe, there are a few tricks to turn your dish from "good" into "restaurant quality."

• Do Not Overcook The Pasta: One of the most common mistakes. Pasta can absorb broth like a sponge. If you leave it in the hot broth too long, it will keep soaking in liquid and expand until there is no more free space left. If you know you will have leftovers, you may wish to cook the pasta separately and scoop it into individual bowls. The noodles stay firm, and the broth remains clear.
• Cool The Meat Mixture: If when you go to roll it, the meatball mixture is sticky and hard to handle, pop the bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before shaping them. The cold fat will make the meatball mix harder and easier to work with.
• Grate Your Own Cheese: Pre-grated cheese often has anti-caking agents (like cellulose) that stop it from melting smoothly. For the meatballs and for serving, buy a block of Parmesan or Pecorino Romano and grate it fresh. The difference in flavor is noticeable.

What Goes with It?

Italian Wedding Soup is big enough to eat as a main course, but it also plays well with others. Let me show you how to put together a whole meal around it.

• Crusty Bread: Essential. Crusty bread is needed to soak up every last bit of flavor-filled broth.
• A Sharp Salad: Since the soup is rich and savory, a crisp, tart salad contrasts well. One idea might be a green salad made of arugula with lemon vinaigrette and Parmesan curls.
• Wine with Italian Wedding Soup: For the grown-ups at the table, this soup makes a lovely partner to medium-bodied white. Try an Italian Pinot Grigio or a Sauvignon Blanc. If red is more to your taste, a light Chianti or Pinot Noir won't overwhelm the delicate flavors of the broth.

Why Wedding Soup's Tradition & Recipes Are Desirable Today

We eat our food in a hurry and live fast lives. These days for many people eating at the sink or in a car are matters of course. But traditional Italian cooking requires us to slow down. To make minestra maritata is an act of love. It involves dicing, folding, steaming, and tasting.

It connects us with an age-old tradition where whatever is at hand, simple ingredients can be turned into something sustaining.

There's more than one reason that this soup has stayed popular through the generations. When we are ill, it cheers us with chicken broth; when we are cold, it warms us up over a bowl as large as two fists; for a house full of guests to feed on Christmas Eve. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It may not be haute cuisine but it still represents the best of home cooking: usually good wholesome fare which counts before anything else on flavor.

FAQs

Can I substitute turkey or chicken for the meat?

Of course. If you are after a lighter taste, then simply exchange the beef and pork for ground turkey or chicken. But do remember to increase seasonings and herbs, for poultry has a milder flavor than red meat.

Can Italian Wedding Soup be stored in the freezer?

Certainly, it freezes well. As mentioned earlier in the manuscript, readers should notice that in reheating the pasta will lose its flavor. Therefore it is advisable, if you want to prepare this dish beforehand and freeze it, to omit pasta from the recipe: make up the soup base with meatballs, greens, and vegetables. Later, when ready to eat, cook fresh pasta separately and add it (hot enough) to the reheated soup.

No acini di pepe, then what?

It's okay. That's tradition, and tradition isn't everything - perhaps the Orzo will work just as well. Or if you're desperate, or just motivated enough, perhaps you could break thin spaghetti into little 1/2-inch pieces. Rest assured, no "authenticity" cops will come knocking on your door about this soup.

Is the soup free from gluten?

Tough luck! It has breadcrumbs and wheat noodles. As a gluten-free alternative, you could make the meatballs using gluten-free breadcrumbs and use gluten-free small pasta shapes in the soup instead of regular. The other ingredients are all naturally gluten-free.

We hope that this inspires you to get in the kitchen. Have you ever made Italian Wedding Soup? Do you have a secret ingredient handed down from your grandmother? We would love to hear about it! Try this recipe tonight and tag us on social media so we can see what your creation looks like.