Italian Wedding Soup With Chicken Meatballs

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 1/4 lbs ground chicken
• 2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrot (3 carrots)
• 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks)
• 10 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup dry wine
• 1 cup small shell pasta, such as tubetini or 1 cup acini di pepe pasta
• 1/4 cup minced fresh dill
• 12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• 2 for the meatballs,.
• 3 in a large bowl combine ground chicken, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, pecorino romano, parmesan, fennel seeds, milk, egg, salt, and pepper.
• 4 combine gently with a fork.
• 5 line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• 6 with a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto sheet pan. you should have about 40 meatballs.
• 7 bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. set aside.
• 8 in the meantime, for the soup.
• 9 heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot.
• 10 add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 11 add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil.
• 12 add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender.
• 13 add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. taste for salt and pepper.
• 14 stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted.
• 15 ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated parmesan.
• 16 notes.
• 17 you can also subsitute escarole for spinach in this recipe.
• 18 gran pandano is a less expersive parm cheese only parm cheese from a certain area and certain cows can be stamped parm reggiano the king of cheeses in italy.
• 19 to make quick meatballs, divide up meat mixture into quarters. roll each quarter into a long log and then cut into pieces. you can then roll the pieces into meatballs (or not - shape doesn't matter in the soup).