Italian Wedding Soup

With a lot of luck, I was able to find fresh escarole. The flavor of escarole is lightly bitter and it keeps it's crisp snap for quite some time. You can use any type of ground meat for this dish. I would not suggest using sausage, as this would compete with the flavors of the soup. Chicken, beef, turkey or pork will work well.

 The Italians have a soup called " Married Soup".  It is a soup with bits of this and that you have in your refrigerator. I have seen it with beans, assorted vegetables and leftover dried pasta. It often has small pieces of beef in it too.

 Enjoy this soup !


For the meat balls, you will preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1 1/2 pounds of ground meat of your choice
2/3 cup of day old bread minced
2 small cloves of garlic minced
1 minced Fresno chile
1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano
2 teaspoons of lemon thyme
1/4 cup of white wine
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
2 large eggs

Mix all the above mentioned ingredients in a bowl and shape into small balls. Bake in a 350 degree oven until not quite done. You want them to release the fat and set. Now set aside.

For the soup:

1 onion minced
4 carrots minced
1 cup celery minced
12 cups of really good chicken stock
1 1/2 cups of Orzo Pasta
1 cup white wine
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of Balsamico Vinegar
2 small heads of escarole chopped
2 tablespoons of fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt an pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste

In a very large pan, heat the olive oil. Now saute your carrots, celery, and onion. The vegetables should be soft and just turning brown. Now add all the other ingredients with the exception of the meat balls. Bring to a simmer and taste for seasoning. Add this point add the meat balls. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with Parmesan.

This soup freezes well.