Saturday, January 28, 2012

Italian Wedding Soup

My first attempt at chicken stock worked out so well that I couldn't wait to try it again.

This time, I also used a rotisserie chicken carcass, but I omitted the apple.  I added carrot, onion, celery, and some kale that was soon going to go bad.  We were home all day, so it simmered on low for about five hours.

When the stock was ready, I strained it and then made Italian Wedding Soup with it.  I wanted to make something that was warm, hearty, and had lots of veggies and lots of meat (my carnivorous husband has been putting up with a lot of vegan cooking lately -- he's earned it).


10-12 cups of chicken stock (preferably home-made!)
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 piece of Ezekiel bread
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 egg whites
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup small, uncooked pasta, like ditalini
4 cups chopped dark, leafy greens (I used mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, and spinach)

Rip the Ezekiel bread and put it in the blender to pulse into crumbs.  Put the crumbs, sausage, and egg whites into a bowl and then mush together by hand.  Form into 1-inch meatballs.  Put olive oil into a pan and brown the meatballs in batches.  [They don't have to cook all the way through, but they should be brown on all sides.]


Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside, but leave the oil in the pan.

Put the carrots, celery, and garlic in the same pan and cook for about 3 minutes.  Then put the chicken stock, the veggies, the meatballs, and the pasta in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, add the dark, leafy greens and cook for 15 minutes more.  Serve.


This meal made the whole family happy: veggies for me, meat for my hubby, and soft finger food (cut up meatballs, carrots, celery, and pasta) for the toddler and baby.  A winner!

5 comments:

  1. This looks really delicious - I love Italian wedding soup. We just spent the weekend with a stomach bug and wound up making a very minimalist version of chicken noodle soup, and the whole time, this is what I was craving.

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    1. I'm so sorry to hear that you were sick. I hope you're all feeling better soon.

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  2. Had to laugh at the mention of your meat-loving husband. My boyfriend's in the same boat. After a week-or-so of vegan food, I have to balance it out with something like fried chicken to keep him happy. Thanks for another great recipe!

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  3. Had to laugh at the mention of your meat-loving husband. My boyfriend's in the same boat. After a week-or-so of vegan food, I have to balance it out with something like fried chicken to keep him happy. Thanks for another great recipe!

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  4. My husband is a pretty good sport about all the kale I've been feeding him, but he will eventually rebel if we don't have some meat (I could honestly take or leave meat, it doesn't really matter to me). I'm a big fan of moderation all around, though, so meat it is!

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