Italian Wedding Soup
by Marie Bianco, author & food editor Some foods begin with a definite time and
place. Caesar Salad, for instance, was created
Makes 8 servings
by Caesar Cardini in 1924 in his Tijuana
4 ounces acini di pepe pasta
restaurant. Toll House Cookies were first baked
For the meatballs:
by Ruth Wakefield at her Toll House Restaurant
1 small onion, finely chopped
in Whitman, MA.
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 egg No one knows when and where Italian Wedding
1 slice white bread, torn into small pieces or 1/4
Soup came into being. Or even why.
cup unseasoned bread crumbs
2 cloves minced garlic
There's one story going around that it's the first
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
time marriage of chicken and beef and
1 pound lean ground beef
another that it's served at Italian weddings.
Chicken and beef have been done before (check
For the soup: out Kentucky Burgoo) and I've never had it at a
12 cups chicken broth
wedding (Italian or otherwise) so I don't buy
2 carrots, peeled and diced ¼ inch    
either version. To me, it most closely duplicates a
2 ribs celery, diced ¼ inch
soup company's Chickarina Soup.
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 ounces inner leaves of curly endive or
escarole, washed and coarsely chopped
Acini de pepe is a small pasta but you can
Salt and pepper
substitute orzo or alphabet noodles. Make sure
Grated Parmesan cheese you use good Parmesan cheese and not the stuff
in the green container. The meatballs should be as
Cook and drain pasta.
small as possible so they cook fast.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir together all the meatball ingredients and
form into small meatballs about ½ inch in
diameter. Place meatballs in oven and bake for
15 minutes.
Heat chicken broth in a large soup pot. Add the
carrots, celery and onion and cook until tender,
about 5 minutes. Add the greens and cooked
pasta and cook until greens are tender. Stir in
meatballs. Ladle into bowls and garnish with
Parmesan cheese.
TIP: For a quick chicken
broth, use Tones Chicken
Base (available at Sam's)
or Better Than Bouillon
Chicken Base (sold at
most supermarkets.)
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