Italian wedding soup has nothing to do with weddings, but instead gets it’s name because of the “marriage” of greens and meat in the soup. My go to greens for this soup is Swiss chard, because the leafy greens are especially sweet during the winter and the thicker stems can be cut out and sautéed in place of celery, meaning the entire green can be used. My partner AJ actually hates the bitterness that celery imparts, so the thick chard stems is a great colorful substitute. Pick any sort of chard available at the store, though my favorite is “rainbow”, which is a mix of various chard, most commonly red, yellow, pink and green.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine American, Italian
Keyword italian wedding soup, meatballs, soup, swiss chard
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 6
Calories 412kcal
Author Irvin
Ingredients
Meatballs
3/4poundground beef
1/2poundsweet Italian sausagebulk or removed from the casing
1/2cupgrated Parmesan cheese
1/3cupItalian bread crumbs
1large egg
3tablespoonschopped chives
2teaspoonfresh thyme leaves
2clovesgarlicminced
1/4teaspoonkosher salt
1/4teaspoonblack pepper
2tablespoonolive oil
Soup
1bunch Swiss chardabout 8 ounces
1tablespoonolive oil
1medium onionchopped
3large carrotsdiced to 1/2-inch chunks
8cupschicken stock
1cupdry white wineor substitute 1 additional cup of chicken stock
1bay leaf
1/2teaspoonkosher salt
1/2teaspoonblack pepper
1cuporzo pastaabout 8 ounces or another small pasta
To Finish
Additional salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Make the meatballs by combining the beef, sausage, parmesan, bread crumbs, egg, chives, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Massage ingredients together with your hands until they are uniformly blended. Run your hands under water to dampen them, then roll 1-inch meatballs. The mixture should make about 40 to 50 meatballs.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large stock pot. Add half the meatballs and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all the sides of the meatball are golden brown. Don’t worry if the inside of the meatballs aren’t cooked fully. You’ll cook them further in the soup. You just want to brown the outside to give them a crust and flavor. Move the brown meatballs to a large heatproof bowl and add the additional oil to the pot and repeat with the remaining meatballs. Do not clean out the pot.
Cut the thick stems out from the chard. Slice the chard leaves thin 1-inch strips and set aside. Chop the stems into 1/2-inch pieces.
Add the olive oil the pot that you browned the meatballs. Add the chard stems, onion, carrots to the pot and cook until the carrots have softened and the onions are starting to turn transparent, about 8 minutes on medium heat.
Add the chicken stock, white wine (if using), bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and any juices in the bottom of the bowl to the pot. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook an additional 10 minutes. Add the pasta and cook for the suggested time on the package. About 2 minutes before the pasta is al dente, add the chard leaves to the pot and stir in to wilt.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese to garnish on top.