Baby, it’s cold outside and nothing warms us up like a steaming bowl of simple but rich and flavorful Italian Wedding Soup. This soup is super easy to make.  You can start it at 5 and have it on the table by 6. Light yet filling and full of healthy greens. And the cutest little meatballs you’ve ever seen. In fact, if you have kids, they will love helping with this. Enjoy it with some crusty Italian bread and a big salad. Salud!

This is Giada Di Laurentiis’ recipe from her book Giada’s Family Dinners, one of my favorite cookbooks.

First, make the meatballs.  Start by stirring together the onion, parsley, garlic, egg, salt and pepper. Stir in the grated parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.

Next add the ground beef. Stir that all together well. Start forming your little meatballs. Use a teaspoon to measure them. Aren’t they adorable?

Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs

• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 large organic egg
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup plain, dry bread crumbs – preferably from whole grain bread or gluten free bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (Not the stuff in the green can!)
• One pound organic ground beef, turkey or chicken
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To make the meatballs:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the onion, parsley, egg, garlic, salt and pepper to blend.
2. Stir in the cheese and bread crumbs
3. Using your hands, mix in the ground beef. That’s the fun part!
4. Using 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs.
5. You will have about 75 adorable little meatballs.
6. Place on a baking sheet.

To make the soup:

• 10 cups chicken broth, homemade if you have it
• 1 pound escarole, coarsely chopped
• 2 large organic eggs
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add the meatballs and escarole and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the escarole is tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion.
4. 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.
5. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Kate’s Tips

• Please use freshly grated real parmesan. Don’t make me cry. The taste is so much better!
• If escarole isn’t available, use curly endive or another dark green leafy veggie like kale or spinach.
• To make this soup gluten-free, use Gluten Free Breadcrumbs like these from Glutino. Just grind them up in your food processor.
• Another recipe I love for Italian Wedding Soup is the Barefoot Contessa’s from her book Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients. She uses ground chicken and chicken sausage and bakes the meatballs.  It’s a little more time consuming than this recipe but super delish too. Enjoy!