Daring Cooks October 2013: Italian Wedding Soup

In a "celebration" of past Daring Cooks and Daring Bakers challenges, Lisa challenged all of us to search through the Daring Kitchen archives and pick any one we'd like! The REAL challenge was picking which delicious recipe(s) to try!

The second Daring Cooks challenge I attempted was Italian Wedding Soup. It's from the Meatballs Around the World challenge from June 2013. It's a soup I tried in Boston with a Sicilian Sandwich and have wanted to recreate ever since. I used a farro pasta that my Mum had brought me back from Italy, which was a lovely texture contrast to the meatballs.

Italian Wedding Soup (from C Mom Cook via Daring Cooks)
(Serves 6-8)

For the meatballs:

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, beaten

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon fresh black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Using your hands, form small meatballs, about the size of a quarter. Set aside.

For the soup:

1/2 - 2/3 cup carrots, diced (about 5 carrots)

1 large yellow onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and fresh black pepper

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1 box frozen chopped spinach

1/2 - 2/3 cup small pasta (I used orzo, the recipe called for tubettini or ditalini) (the more pasta, the thicker the soup)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving.

 

In a large soup pot, saute onion and carrot in the olive oil over medium low heat until soft and tender. Season well with salt and pepper. Add garlic and Italian seasoning and saute until fragrant (just another minute or two).

 

Add chicken broth and turn the heat up to bring the soup to a slow boil. Once it begins to boil, add the meatballs slowly, one at a time. Once all of the meatballs have been added, add the pasta and the spinach. Bring it back up to a simmer, season with additional salt and pepper, and simmer at least 25 minutes.

 

Stir in Parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.

 

Serve with additional Parmesan cheese.