Zuppa del giorno - Italian Wedding Soup

I never realized how much I loved and appreciated my mother until I attempted her world famous Italian Wedding Soup. Whew! Let's just say that I am not an extraordinarily patient person. If you're anything like me, I would highly suggest opening a bottle of wine while you are making this soup. (At the very least, enjoy a glass while you are patiently rolling out the millions of tiny meatballs.) I guess it's no wonder my mom had only a tiny bit of patience for me and my three little brothers. I'm realizing how that most of her patience was used on making this soup for us multiple times a month.

But, before I get to the recipe portion of today's post, let me just explain a few things: When I had dinner with my boyfriend's family the other night, they said "What is Italian Wedding Soup?" I guess because my mom has made this soup since before I can remember I just assumed that everyone's family has homemade wedding soup every time the weather dropped below 60 degrees. Guess not. Okay so for those of you who aren't sure what Italian Wedding Soup is, let me explain in the simplest way possible: Chicken noodle soup, minus the noodles, plus meatballs, rice, and greens. I think that about sums it up. BUT it's so much more flavorful. And for me, it brings back so many more memories of home.

One more thing to explain: You don't have to be going to a wedding, be getting married, or even be married to enjoy this soup. In fact, the term "wedding soup" is a mistranslation of the Italian language, minestra maritata (or "married soup"). The dish was so named because it marries together green vegetables and meat. (Really, it was probably just a way for Italian mothers, like my own, to get their children to eat their vegetables.)

I'll admit that if I were making soup for my own personal benefit, I would probably just make something more simple and then just wait for my mom to deliver me some of her soup when she stops into town. But, the reason I am making Italian Wedding Soup today is because tomorrow, the law school is raising money and collecting food for the Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, SC through a soup lunch. For, for some crazy reason, I volunteered to make, on behalf of my law journal, my mother's Italian Wedding Soup. Someone probably should have convinced me otherwise, because this soup has been keeping me busy for at least the last 12 hours with prep work, but I know that tomorrow it will be delicious and everyone at the law school will love it.

So, here goes, my zuppa del giorno (italian for "soup of the day"):

Italian Wedding Soup via my Italian mother:

Stock:

3.5 lbs chicken wings

10 cups water

4 carrots (peeled and halved crosswise, not longwise)

6 stalks celery and leaves

3-4 large yellow onions (outside layer removed and quartered)

2 cloves garlic peeled

10 whole black peppercorns (or black pepper to taste)

3 Tbsp. salt

2 Tbsp. dried parsley

3-4 dried bay leaves

2 Tbsp. basil

Meatballs:

1/2 lb. ground chuck

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs 

1 egg

Additions:

4 cups cooked rice

2 heads escarole or endive

Directions:

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package. I used 2 cups rice, 4 cups water, 1 tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil (to keep rice from sticking). Simmer on low until all water is evaporated. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Allow steam to rise.

Wash and chop the escarole or endive, then boil in a small amount of water until tender. This will take approximately 5 minutes. (Don't worry if the leaves start to lose their beautiful green color. I think you can probably shock them in an ice bath after steaming but it really doesn't matter). Drain well.

Mix together the ground chuck, parmesan cheese, egg, and breadcrumbs in a bowl. Roll meat mixture into very tiny meatballs (about the size of a nickle). My mom says to microwave for 4 minutes and then drain, but I browned them in a large skillet (make sure when you push them around that they don't break up in your pot though).

Use a large pot (an extremely large one actually), I used what I thought was a big pot and realized that I had to make the soup twice because I couldn't fit everything in.

Wash wings under cold water. Add to pot the cleaned chicken wings, water, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. (If 10 cups of water isn't enough to cover everything in the pot, add just about a cup more until covered. Don't fill the pot to the top though. Vegetables will eventually reduce, so you're probably fine.) Bring to a boil. Just as the water starts to boil, skim fat with large spoon. (For those of you who aren't sure what chicken fat looks like, it's kind of foamy.) After pot is boiling add peppercorns, parsley, bay leaves, basil, and salt. Cover, reduce to simmer, and simmer for 3-5 hours (the longer the better).

Drain entire pot through a fine screen / collander. Chop and add as desired from the stock any carrots and celery. Clean chicken and add to stock. Add escarole or endive, rice and meatballs.

Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

ENJOY!