Spinach Meatball Soup

[forHISglory]

I had this kind of soup at an Italian restuarant and it was sooooooo good! They didn't give out recipes, and now I'm trying to duplicate it. I've looked in cookbooks and on-line, but didn't find anything that sounded just right.

Have you ever made this kind of soup? If so, can you share the recipe?

Thanks!!

[imagine]

What color was the soup base? green , white, red, etc

[forHISglory]

The base was yellow/clear. I'm guessing it was chicken stock.

[justpeachy92]

I have never made this soup homemade, I usually by the campbells select version. But here is a recipe I found online.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian...-I/Detail.aspx

[imagine]

I found several recipe my goggling "Itailan Spinach Meatball soup"

but you said you already tried that

Can you describe the soup a little more?

[YankeeMom]

It's called Italian Wedding Soup. It's made with chicken stock, spinach, ditalini pasta, and onion. The meatballs are made with a mixture of beef & veal. It is my FAVORITE soup.

[forHISglory]

QUOTE: "It's called Italian Wedding Soup. It's made with chicken stock, spinach, ditalini pasta, and onion. The meatballs are made with a mixture of beef & veal. It is my FAVORITE soup."

This sounds close to what I had. I can't vouch for the meat in the meatballs; they seemed to be somewhat "sausage-y" if you know what I mean. I'm not familiar with this type of pasta, but there was some pasta in the soup.

Thanks for your replies. I want to make this for a gathering this weekend.

[LuvMyHubby]

Ohh Italian Wedding soup, yum. I don't have a receipe but I think my MIL does. I will ask her when I see her or you can probably find it on a good receipe site.

[amyd]

I made this one minus the carrots once.

I really liked it, but dh and dd weren't too fond of the spinach floating in their soup.

(from allrecipes.com)

Mama's Italian Wedding Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated
Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil 3 tablespoons minced onion
2 1/2 quarts chicken broth
2 cups spinach - packed,
rinsed and thinly sliced
1 cup seashell pasta
3/4 cup diced carrots

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, basil and onion. Shape mixture into 3/4-inch balls and set aside.
2. In a large stockpot heat chicken broth to boiling; stir in the spinach, pasta, carrot and meatballs. Return to boil; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, at a slow boil for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente, and meatballs are no longer pink inside. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

[forHISglory]

Here's what I made last night, and Hubby declared it "Good!"

1 can chicken broth
1 can water
1 1/2 cups frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 cup minute rice
12 oz. sausage links, cut into 1/2 inch chunks.

I just boiled all this until veggies were tender and sausage was done. Fast, easy, delicious. I'm going to try it also with barley and again with pasta, just to see the difference.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

[pip]

Could you just use frozen italian meatballs in the recipe?

[Lady_V]

There are a few different ways to make zuppa maritata...

If the pasta was small and ball-like it's most likely ancini de peppe (aka peppercorn) ... if they looked like seashells, but not regular shells, it may be orecchiette... if it looked like tiny stars, may have been pastina... if it looked like grain, it may have been orzo

[HappyMama]

[QUOTE=forHISglory;1060948]Here's what I made last night, and Hubby declared it "Good!"

Ah yes the famous Stracciatella soup ( Italian Soup)

* 2 eggs
* 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
* 2 tsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
* 1 bunch of fresh spinach cleaned and shredded
* 1/8 tsp nutmeg
* 1/8 tsp salt
* 1 quart chicken stock
* small meatballs or 1/2 cup cooked chicken, shredded (optional)
* small shells or ditalini added already cooked

Directions

1. In a small bowl beat lightly beat the eggs.
2. Mix in the parsley, nutmeg, and salt.
3. In a 2-3 quart pot bring the chicken stock to a low boil.
4. Pour in the egg mixture while stirring with a whisk.
5. Add the shredded chicken and stir.
6. Lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer for 2 - 3 minutes, while stirring.
7. The egg will form ribbons in the soup.
8. Serve at once.

Or Italian Meatball soup ( Italian Wedding Soup)

SOUP:

10 c. chicken broth
1 bunch spinach , cleaned and sliced
Sage seasoning
1-2 eggs
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
small ditalini noodles or tiny shells etc.

MEATBALLS:

1 lb. ground beef
Salt and pepper
Bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese
Oregano

First, combine all meatball ingredients listed above, or use your own recipe. Roll meatballs between the palms of your hands to shape 1-inch diameter balls. Set aside.

To prepare broth, you can use canned broth or save the broth created by broiling chicken from other dishes. Freeze or refrigerate the broth so all the fat collects at the top. Skim off the fat and discard. Bring the broth to a rolling boil.

In small bowl, crack the eggs and lightly beat with a fork. Add the beaten eggs by pouring in a THIN stream. As you pour the eggs, stir the broth so the egg is broken up and appears as threads throughout the broth. (Will look like Chinese Egg Drop Soup.)

HTH

Your soup sounded good. Hope you can use and enjoy these. My family loves soup and these are favorites!

[LuvMyHubby]

Checked with MIL...her's is identical to amyd's, so I won't repost. She leaves the carrots out as FIL hate's cooked carrot in anything.