Italian Wedding Soup

My sister-in-law is married to a real "Eye-talian" as my grandmother used to say. Her inlaws make gravy on Sunday afternoons, celebrate the feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, and her children count meatballs as their favorite food. Leslie had no choice. She had to figure out how to get her husband the flavors he loved. So, as a result, she is a really good Italian cook. This recipe is one of her husband's favorites.

My children also love it. I think they love the meatballs the most. It starts with really, really small meatballs. I used a pound of ground beef, plus 1/2 pound of pork, and these are the meatballs I ended up with. I counted them, and it was 120 meatballs. That is a lot of balls! My children loved them, of course, so it was worth it (and the soup is darn good! We loved it, too).

Italian wedding Soup

8 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded chicken
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 T Italian seasoning
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped into bite size pieces
1 package frozen spinach
2 t dried dillweed
salt and pepper
1/2 pound small pasta--anything works here. Corkscrews, broken spaghetti, elbows, ditalini

Mix ground meats, Italian seasoning, bread crumbs, and egg together until well combined. Form into tiny meatballs and set aside. In a large soup pot, saute onion until softened. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth, chicken, carrots, spinach, and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then drop in meatballs. Simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta, and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through and pasta is done.

**sometimes I make the pasta separately, especially if I think that I've made enough soup for leftovers. If the pasta is already in the soup, the leftovers aren't as good as if you store it separately.

Today, I'm linked to Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Check it out!