Italian wedding soup is one of the more fun soups my family used to make when I was a kid. It’s an odd name that actually comes from a mistranslation of the Italian phrase minestra maritata (“married soup”). Minestra maritata more directly translates to “wedded broths.” So it’s broths rather than people that are getting married. Also, I can tell you I’ve been to countless cousins’ weddings, and nobody ever served it.
Wedding soup is a vegetable soup, similar to a minestrone, but it always contains pastina, which are tiny little pastas, and tiny meatballs (see page 69 for the recipe for polpettine), which means that kids love it! Here, you make the meatballs teaspoon-sized and roll them up good and tight. Bake them and set them aside to add to the soup.
Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 6 to 8- 1/2 pound acini di pepe pasta (or any pastina, such as ditalini or orzo)
- 1/2 cup Polpettine base (see recipe below)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced Yukon Gold potato
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 4 cups filtered water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 cups chopped escarole, or fresh spinach
- Chile oil for drizzling (optional)
- Maldon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, then rinse under cool water. Set aside.
Use a teaspoon to portion the polpettine base into small balls. Then roll them between your palms into compact balls. Oil a baking sheet. Arrange the meatballs on it, then bake for 12 to 14 minutes, flipping halfway through.
In a stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery, carrots, potato, garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, smoked paprika, pepper, and salt for 12 to 15 minutes.
Add the water and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice and escarole (or spinach), bring back to boil, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the baked meatballs and cooked acini di pepe pasta. Bring back to a boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat. Taste for salt.
Garnish with olive oil (or chile oil, if using) and Maldon salt.
