Easy Italian Wedding Soup

recipe by Robin Bashinsky for Eating Well

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1⅓ cups chopped yellow onion
  • ⅔ cup chopped carrot
  • ⅔ cup chopped celery
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 6 cups unsalted chicken broth
  • 6 ounces orzo, (whole-wheat is nice)
  • 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 24 cooked chicken meatballs* (12 ounces)
  • 4 cups baby spinach
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add broth, cover and bring to a boil. Add orzo, oregano and salt; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the orzo is just tender, about 9 minutes.
  2. Stir in meatballs and spinach; cook until the meatballs are heated through and the spinach is wilted, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve sprinkled with cheese and drizzled with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil.

*Make the meatballs ahead of time to make assembling the soup “souper” easy. Any Italian sausage will do, it doesn’t have to be ground chicken and chicken sausage, it can be chicken, beef and/or pork or any ground meat in any combination you like. Mixing meats for your meatballs is an old Italian tradition that gives wonderful texture and depth of flavor.

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