Kyle’s mom Tina’s Italian Wedding Soup is without question our favorite thing to cook! It’s actually Tina’s mom’s recipe, and Tina cooked it for Kyle his whole childhood. We served it at the rehearsal dinner before our wedding, and cook it 2-3 times a year during cozy season. If you’re friends with us IRL, there’s a good chance we’ve dropped this off at your house after you had a baby or during a particularly rainy spell.
We love to cook the full batch, keep 1/4 of it in the fridge and throw the rest in the freezer for a rainy day. If you are freezing it, be sure to freeze without the pasta, and add the pasta in just before serving, for the perfect cozy meal. Top with a mountain of freshly grated parmesan and pair with our 2023 Nero D’Avola. Instant top chef status!
INGREDIENTS
4 bone in chicken breasts
4-6 carrots
6-8 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
32oz chicken broth
2 heads of escarole or kale
Orzo or small pasta
Tiny meatballs - see recipe below
Meatballs
2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
3 cups Italian breadcrumbs
2 tbs parsley (fresh or dried works)
2 tbs salt
1 tbs pepper
Cook the chicken breasts- put the chicken breasts in a large pot and fill with water just to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for approximately 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the breasts and set aside to cool, but don’t dump the water! You will need this later.
While the chicken cooks, make the meatballs - add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix with hands until fully combined. Roll into tiny balls roughly the size of a quarter (sometimes the smaller the better- you’re going to be rolling a lot of meatballs). Set aside.
Chop the onion, thinly slice the celery and peel and slice the carrots.
Fill a fresh pot with the chicken stock and add the carrots, celery and onion. Bring to a simmer.
While this is getting to temp, shred the cooked chicken with a fork and discard the bones (or save to make more stock)
Add the meatballs to the chicken stock and veggies along with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, blanch the escarole or kale and then chop.
Add the shredded chicken and greens to the soup. Now sit back for 1-2 hours while it cooks at a low temp, partially covered. Check regularly and add more of chicken stock/cooking liquid as needed. You want it barely simmering, never boiling.
Just before serving, cook the pasta
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with pasta and a mountain of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Pair with our 2023 Nero d’Avola and mangé!
Store leftovers in the fridge and serve within 3-4 days or freeze for winter-long nourishment
