This is a soup that I have been making for years. It is a bit of a twist on classic wedding soup. Traditionally this soup has beef or beef and pork meatball, but I started making it with the ground turkey, and never looked back. The turkey meatballs are very flavorful, but they are much leaner than beef and pork. This makes the broth a lot less greasy, and allows the flavors of the vegetables and the beautiful escarole to shine. This is my humble opinion, so all of you purists, please put away your pitchforks. This soup base will taste great with beef or pork. I just prefer the turkey.
This soup starts with the most basic soup ingredients and what is often referred to as the Holy Trinity of Italian cooking. Carrots, Celery, and Onion are the ultimate base ingredients and will come up in soup recipes and sauce bases over and over again. The proportion is supposed to be roughly 1-1-2, and if you want to whip up a soup without a recipe, you start with the Holy Trinity and add from there. After sauteing the carrots, celery, and onion with a drizzle of olive, I add a few cloves of chopped garlic. I don’t add the garlic until the other vegetables have already softened some because garlic tends to burn. If you burn your garlic you risk making your entire pot of soup bitter, so save the garlic until the end and just let it heat gently. Season everything well with dry spices, and then add water.
Of course, Italian Wedding soup needs meat balls. While your soup is simmering, make the meatballs by mixing ground turkey and dry spices. You do not need any additional binders like eggs or breadcrumbs. Roll the meatballs into 1″ balls and gently drop into the soup. They will bob around a bit and then float as they cook through.
I don not put any stock or prepared broth into this recipe. The vegetables, greens, and turkey meatballs simmer for a few hours and make a wonderfully flavorful broth without any help from the store. Cook on a low simmer for about 2 hours. Add the pasta about 10 minutes before serving. After adding the pasta, gently stir the pot to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
“What a marvelous resource soup is for the thrifty cook – it solves the ham-bone and lamb-bone problems, the everlasting Thanksgiving turkey, the extra vegetables.” – Julia Child
Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
This amazing Italian Wedding Soup Recipe is chock full of vegetables and savory turkey meatballs. It's rich broth has a nice hint of spice that will warm up your winter's night.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time2 hrs
Total Time4 hrs 20 mins
Servings: 8 People
Calories: 152kcal
Ingredients
Soup Base
- 16 Cups Water
- 1 Bundle Escarole
- 2 Large Carrots
- 4 Stalks Celery
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 2 Cloves garlic
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tsp Granulated Garlic
- 1 Tsp Granulated Onion
- 1 Tbsp Dry Parsley or 1/4 Cup Fresh
- 1/2 Tsp Red Pepper Flake
- 1 Tsp Dry Oregano
- 1/2 Cup Acini Di Pepe or any small pasta
Meatball Mixture
- 1 Lb Ground Turkey
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Pepper
- 1 Tsp Granulated Garlic
- 1 Tsp Granulated Onion
- 1 Tsp Dry Parsley
- 1/2 Tsp Oregano
Instructions
- Start with your soup base. Wash the carrots and celery. Peel carrots and dice. Wash celery and remove bottoms. Trim away any bruised leaved or damaged ends. Dice celery along with any leaves left on the stalk. Peel and dice onion. Peel and dice garlic. (separate garlic as it needs less time to cook and may burn if put in with the other vegetables.)
- Heat a large soup pot on medium heat. Add olive oil to the pot and then add the vegetables. Stir the vegetables until they have a nice coating of olive oil.
- Add your dry spices to the vegetables, and let cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and just let them heat briefly.
- Add water, and turn up the heat to bring to a simmer.
- While the water is coming to a simmer, wash and chop the escarole. You clean escarole just like you clean lettuce. Place the head in a bowl of cold water and let the sediment fall away to the bottom of the bowl. Pat dry and chop into bite sized pieces. Add to the soup pot once it begins simmering.
- Once all of the vegetables and greens are simmering away. Make your turkey meatballs.
- To make the meatballs, mix ground turkey and dry spices in a bowl. Then roll small 1" balls and place them gently in the simmering soup pot.
- Let the soup simmer on medium/low for 1/5-2 hours. 10 Minutes before serving add the Acini di Pepe or small pasta. Stir frequently and let cook for 10 more minutes. When the past is tender the soup is ready to serve.
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