Foodie Friday: Italian Wedding Soup

Happy Friday everyone!!

The countdown to Christmas is on! 2 more sleeps! I’m so very pumped this year, mostly because I can finally give Chris his gift!  I’ve had it for over a month now and have been dying to give it to him since the day it arrived. For the first time, I’m pretty confident that he has absolutely NO idea what he’s getting, so it’s pretty exciting.

Speaking of Christmas, we all know that the gifts and family gatherings go hand in hand with food – lots and lots of food.  Knowing that we have a few meals ahead of us that are going to be a little ‘heavier’ than normal, I thought it would be perfect to make a big pot of soup last night for the meals leading up to the big day.  I’ve always been a big fan of Italian Wedding soup (especially the one at East Side Mario’s!) and have always wanted to recreate my own version.  I started the soup Wednesday night by making the meatballs ahead of time and last night managed to create something so warming and delicious! I’m really looking forward to having leftovers for lunch today. 🙂

Laura’s Italian Wedding Soup

What you need:

(for the meatballs)

• 1lb ground chicken or turkey (I used chicken, because that’s what I had..turkey is easier to work with)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 C bread crumbs
• 2 tsp basil
• pinch of oregano
• a few shakes of salt and pepper
• a few shakes of garlic powder

(for the soup)

• 1/2 an onion, minced
• 1 large carrot, chopped thinly (carrot obviously isn’t a normal ingredient in this soup, but I like the colour and extra vitamins!)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• meat balls
• 1 carton of chicken stock (here in Canada I use the low-sodium Wal-Mart brand vs. Campbell’s as the sodium content is lower)
• 1-2 C water
• 3/4 C Israeli couscous (so perhaps it should be called Israeli Wedding soup?)
• 1 big bunch of kale, or your favourite green (bok choy, chard, spinach)

What to do:

– first off, you need to make the meatballs.  I made these ahead of time as I was already using the oven, but you can do this the same day if you like. 🙂

– literally dump all of your meatball ingredients into a big bowl

– get in there with your hands and mix it all up. Now form into balls and place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. (This is where turkey would work better than chicken. I find ground chicken really sticky and tough to work with – hence why I ended up with meat blobs vs. nicely formed balls. The chicken still tastes fantastic though!) Try to keep the balls bite sized a they are for a soup!

– bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes — until the meatballs are lightly browned and firm to the touch

– now it’s time to make the soup!

– in a decent sized pot, start out by sauteeing your onion and carrots in a tiny splash of olive oil on a med-low heat

– once the onions start to appear translucent, toss in the garlic and sautee for another minute or so

– toss in your meat balls and heat them through for another minute or so

– now it’s time to add the stock and water

– bring your heat up to medium and let it simmer for about 15 minutes to allow the flavour of the meat balls to seep into the stock

– while it’s simmering, rinse your Israeli couscous and then add it to the soup after the 15 min and cook for an additional 7-8 minutes

– when the couscous is cooked, gather your greens and stir them in – they cook in about 30 seconds. (Can you believe I only just picked this kale from my garden last night!? I live in Ontario people!)

– when the greens have wilted into the liquid, you’re ready to serve!

It’s a nutritious and delicious meal in a bowl!

Enjoy!!! 🙂