Italian Wedding Soup

Fact of the day:  Italian Wedding Soup has absolutely nothing to do with weddings. It's a mistranslation of the Italian phrase minestra maritata which refers to "married soup," however just refers to how well the meat and veggies go together. 


Italian Wedding Soup: 
Adapted from Serious Eats
Serves 7 | Takes 2 hours (unless prep beforehand)






For the Meatballs: 
1 Pound lean ground turkey 
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
1 tsp minced garlic 
basil, pepper, salt 
2 T dried breadcrumbs 
1 large egg


For the Soup: 
1/2 T olive oil 
3 medium carrots, sliced into coins
2 stalks celery, cut to small pieces 
1 medium onion, diced 
2 tsp minced garlic 
8 cups chicken broth
3 cups water 
5 ounces baby spinach 
2 cups bite sized pasta (I used spaghetti broken up) 


1) Make the meatballs: spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Pinch off about two tsp. f meatball mixture and roll into balls. Place on baking sheet and set aside.  ( made mine in the morning and left them covered in the fridge, saved a bunch of time!) 


2) Make the soup: heat olive il in a large pot over m-h heat. Add carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally until begin to soften (3 min). Add celery, onions, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all veggies begin to soften (2 min). 


3) Add chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Once the soup reaches a boil, add meatballs, one at a time. After you've added half the meatballs, stir soup gently and then add remaining meatballs. All to cook for five minutes before reducing the head to low and simmer for abut 20 minutes. 


4) While soup simmers, cook pasta. Cook pasta until just al dente. Drain and add to soup. 


5) Add spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted and tender. Season as needed. 


*Thoughts* I did my prep beforehand (chopped the veggies the night before and made the meatballs in the morning) and it only took me about 35 minutes to put it on the table. I really liked it, it was different! Happy eating!