Italian Wedding Soup

Instructions

MAKE THE MEATBALLS:

In a bowl, measure and add the beef, ground pork, egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic, shallot, salt and black pepper. Use a fork to combine the meat mixture until thoroughly combined.

Use a small scoop to measure out the meatball mixture, you need about 1/2 a tablespoon rolled into balls. You should have about 60 to 62 meatballs.

Heat olive oil or avocado oil in a large 6 to 7-quart dutch oven. Working in batches, brown the meatballs on all sides. Adding more olive oil as needed. Once browned, transfer to a clean plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs.

MAKE THE SOUP:

Once the meatballs are browned, add the onions, carrot and celery with a pinch of kosher salt to the pot. Stir and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until softened. Add a little more oil only if needed.

Next add in the minced garlic and italian seasoning. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the Parmesan rind to the pot and pour in the chicken broth. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and add the meatballs. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes, reduce heat to low. Add in the chopped baby spinach. Stir occasionally until wilted. Meanwhile bring a pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions, about 9 minutes.

Taste and season the soup with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. (For me it was 1½ teaspoons kosher salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.) Remove the parmesan rind.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and divide among bowls or simply add to soup pot. Then ladle soup among bowls.

Serve with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Soups, Stews & Chilis