1/52: Italian Wedding Soup

Soup 1 of 52

Italian Wedding Soup

A celebratory soup to kick off my 52 Soups Project in 2024

I'm going on an adventure to make a different soup every week in 2024. That's 52 different soups. Ideally one a week, but life happens so I know my soup making (and eating) may not always be on schedule.

Why 52 soups? I just like soup. It's fun to cook. But really, my motto in '24 is Consume Less (a resolution of sorts) and cooking at home is a big part of that. I've worked so hard the past few years with schedules that are all over the place and it's frankly easier in NYC to whip out your phone, click a few buttons, and voila - dinner arrives 20 minutes later.

But this year is different. I want less, not more this year. Less takeout, less plastic, less mindless online shopping, less mindless social media consumption, just ... less.

Italian Wedding Soup is up first for New Year's Eve/Day. When I create recipes they tend to be a relaxed approach to ingredient amounts, but I try to be as helpful as possible when it comes to tips and tricks.

I’m also excited to give substack a try and will be posting the rest of the recipes there. Today though, the recipe for Italian Wedding soup below for all to enjoy, and would love for you to consider subscribing to follow along for future posts/recipes in my 52 Soups Project journey this year!

@lobosworth Trying to make 52 different soups in 2024 for a tasty way to support my personal theme/resolution in 2024 which is “Consume Less” - less takeout, less mindless online shopping, less plastic, less stuff. 51 to go! What soups should i make!?!?! #ConsumeLess2024 #52soupsthisyear ♬ original sound - Lo Bosworth

Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

Process:

In a bowl combine pork, beef, egg, parm, pepper, salt, garlic, parsley, bread crumbs until everything comes together. I like to gently squeeze through my fingers until combines. Form 1/2 inch meatballs and place on a piece of parchment paper.
In your large soup pan, melt butter over low/medium heat. We'll be browning our meatballs in this and want some brown color to develop but you need to keep the heat in check so it doesn't burn. Point is - we'll be cooking our veg in these brown bits and they can't be burnt (otherwise the entire soup will taste icky).
Add your meatballs to the pan. Turn after a minute or two (they should be brownish) once you start to see some brown develop in the pan. If it's too hot, turn the heat down. We aren't cooking the meatballs all the way through here anyway, so it's okay to control the temp up and down a bit.
Once you have enough browning, remove the meatballs and set aside into a bowl.
In the same pan, add your chopped veg and start sweating the veg in the butter. Most of the brown bits should come up as you stir, and the veg may develop some browning of their own. Cook for 5ish mins while stirring pretty regularly. Feel free to add a small handful of salt to the veg at this point.
Add your stock and make sure to scrape any remaining brown bits (flavor) off the bottom. Add your washed and dried additional parsley (stem on is fine, you may want to remove it before serving and stem on helps you find it) to the soup and let simmer for 5-10 mins.
Add your not fully cooked meatballs and allow to simmer (not boil - this will overcook your meatballs and result in tough meat instead of the delicate meatball you want in this soup) for 10ish mins.
Taste your soup! Add black pepper. Add chicken bouillon if it needs it. Add a bit of butter to soften the taste in your mouth.
Add your spinach right at the end so it stays bright green.
While your soup is doing it's thing cook your pasta in a separate dish (and don't forget to salt the water - "salty like the sea" is what we'd say in culinary school). Make sure to only cook your pasta to a true al dente. Strain and set aside.
Now, it's time to plate (spoon?) your soup into your favorite bowl.
Add pasta first, then broth/veg, then a few meatballs. Top with a very generous serving of freshly grated parm.
Enjoy soup number 1!

1 down, 51 to go. What other soups should I make this year? Lmk in the comments.

Xo, Lo