Italian Wedding Soup

 The first snow of the winter official makes it "Soup Season" for me.

One of my favorites is Italian Wedding Soup.  While it is a labor of love, it is worth it!

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Thighs

(Seasoning for Chicken: Garlic Salt/ Pepper/ Italian Seasoning)

Whole Celery Stalks

Whole Carrots

1 Large Onion

4 Boxes of Chicken Stock

Head of Kale or Endive

2 eggs

Anci De Peppe

Meatballs

1/2 lb of Ground Beef

1/2 lb of Ground Pork

1 egg

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup of Milk

1/2 cup of italian bread crumbs

1/2 tsp of salt, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil and pepper

Preheat oven to 350*

Mix seasoning together for chicken thighs

Spray chicken thighs with cooking spray/olive oil

Sprinkle seasoning liberally on the chicken thighs

Place in the oven, flip over after 10 minutes, and repeat steps of cooking spray and seasoning.  Continue to flip chicken thighs every 10 minutes for up to 45 minutes until chicken skin is crispy.

Meanwhile, while chicken is cooking start the soup

Dice up large onion

Pull apart celery, and just dice up the leafy insides and the tops, keep the carrots and celery whole

Place everything into large stock pot, including a tablespoon of italian seasoning

Let simmer, and once chicken has baked for 45 minutes, place into stock pot

Add some of the "juice" from the chicken as well

I typically allow the broth to marry for a solid 3-4 hours before starting the meatballs.

Meatballs:

  Make sure you make the meatballs small, remember they need to be bite sized for the soup

Bake at 375* for 20 minutes.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes before removing them from your cookie sheet.

While waiting on your meatballs to cool, remove the chicken thighs, carrots and celery from the stock.  If you would like, you can shred the chicken and add it back to the soup.

Add the meatballs once everything has been removed

Chop the endive or kale and add it to the warm soup and let it wilt.

Whisk 2 eggs

From a foot above the stock pot, pour in the eggs and stir your soup.

Continue to allow the soup to simmer for several hours to have all the flavors marry.

Pasta

Follow the instructions for the Anci De Peppe

I do not add the Anci De Peppe to the soup, I keep it separate so it doesn't absorb the broth of the soup.  I keep it separate and add it when I make each bowl of soup.

While it truly is a labor of love like i mentioned before, it is worth it!

What is your favorite soup?  I'm always looking for new ones for "Soup Season"

Enjoy friends!