Mennonite Girls Can Cook is a collection of recipes which were posted daily for a period of ten years from 2008 to 2018. We have over 3,000 delicious recipes that we invite you to try. The recipes can be accessed in our recipe file by category or you can use the search engine.

Recipe Search

Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

This soup is a delicious alternative to Chicken noodle soup. 
We’ve enjoyed it at several Italian restaurants and I thought I’d try to duplicate it at home.
Here’s the recipe I came up with. You can easily double it to serve 10-12 people.
  • 10 cups home made or purchased low sodium Chicken broth, divided
  • Italian style meatballs (recipe follows)
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 1 cup uncooked Orzo (rice shaped pasta)
  • large handful of chopped kale or spinach
  • the rind of a piece of fresh Parmesan (if available)*
  • several large leaves coarsely chopped fresh basil
For the Italian Style Meatballs:
  • 1 cup fine breadcrumbs
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup beef broth
  • 1/2 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1/2 teaspoon. salt
  • 1/4 teapoon Montreal Steak Spice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Basil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
  1. Mix breadcrumbs, milk, beef broth and egg together.
  2. Add ground beef, ground pork and remaining ingredients.
  3. Form into small meatballs. (about 3/4 inch) I use a tablespoon to measure the amount for each meatball.
  4. Cook meatballs 10 at a time in 2 cups of chicken broth. This will only take a few minutes for each batch. Cut one in half to see if it is done.
  5. In another pot, cook sliced carrots until just tender.
  6. Cook orzo in a separate pot of boiling water until “al dente”. (do not overcook)
  7. Add cheese rind to chicken broth in a large soup pot and bring to a boil.
  8. Turn heat down to a simmer and add meatballs, cooked carrots, cooked orzo pasta and chopped kale and basil.
  9. Heat until kale is wilted.
  10. Serve with a sprinkle of grated parmesan and chopped basil if desired.
Notes:
As with any soup recipe this one can be adapted to your taste. Some like it with garlic added to the broth. I’ve also seen it made with different leafy greens (arugula, curly endive, escarole)

Making the small meatballs is the tedious part of this recipe but you can prepare and cook them ahead of time and refrigerate them. The carrots and orzo can also be cooked ahead of time so they are all ready when you assemble the soup.

*I’ve noticed from my reading that Italians often add the rind or heal of Parmesan cheese to their soups. This not only uses up that last bit of cheese but adds flavour to the soup. And, it’s a a delicious mouthful if the melted cheese turns up in your bowl.

12 comments:

  1. Yum... A friend was just asking me about what to do with some leftover kale... I'm sending her here...

    The soup looks soooooo delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've wanted this recipe....thank you for posting it. It does look tasty.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the picture! This will be my next soup to try!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is one of my favorites, I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good traditional soup, but my Italian One Night Stand soup really get folks talking. It is sort of like dancing, ya know what I mean?

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of my favorite soups. I am going to try this recipe as I don't have a good one. Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yummy! I've never made this one ..thanks Bev!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love this soup...yours looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love soups with meat...I just made the January soup from Judy...but this looks like a great one with chicken broth. It's the time for soups.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi! Your Italian wedding soup has been nominated as one of the "Best Italian Wedding Soup Recipes on the Net". To vote for it, please visit http://easyitalianrecipes.org/soup-recipes/best-italian-wedding-soup-recipes-on-the-net-vote-for-your-favorite/ (your recipe is positioned at #155).

    ReplyDelete