Italian Wedding Soup

What better way to warm up than with a nice hot bowl of yummy soup!

My favourite Food Network show at the moment is Giada's Every Day Italian and I saw her make this a while back. It looked so yummy I had to try it out for myself last Sunday. I'm not sure why its called wedding soup, but I can say it is delish!!

It's a really easy recipe and so quick to make, I might save it for a weeknight dinner next time since it took no time at all - half an hour tops. After I threw everything in the bowl, John helped make the meatballs while I prepared the stock and escarole.

I made some small modifications as her recipe serves 8 plus I wanted to use up some ingredients I had. I also added some egg noodles to the soup to make it more filling, but it can be left out for a lighter version. You can find her original recipe here.

Italian Wedding Soup

Serves 2-3

Meatballs:
1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 large egg
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
4 ounces ground beef
4 ounces ground pork
Freshly ground black pepper (no salt - the broth is salty enough)

Soup:
4 cups chicken broth
Handful egg noodles or pasta
1/2 pound escarole, coarsely chopped (1/4 pound of spinach would be a good substitute)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the meatballs:
* Stir all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix well
* Take a small amount of meat mixture and shape into bite size meatballs with the palm of your hand and place on a baking sheet

To make the soup:
* Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add egg noodles and cook for 3 minutes
* Add the meatballs and escarole and simmer until the meatballs are cooked (they will rise to the top of the broth)
* Whisk the egg and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. 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.
* Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with parmesan cheese if desired.