Italian Wedding Soup

By ghinman

Ingredients

• FOR THR MEATBSLLS
• 3/4 lb. ground chicken
• 1/2 lb. chicken sausage, cassing removed
• 2/3 cup white bread crumbs
• 2 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 3 Tbs. chopped, fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• 3 Tbs. milk
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• FOR THE SOUP
• 2 Tbs. good olive oil
• 1 cup mince yelloe onion
• 1 cup 1/4 in. diced carrots, (3 carrotsS)
• 3/4 cupa 14 in. diced celery (2 stalks)
• 10 cups homemade chicken stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
• 1/4 cup minced fresh dill
• 12 oz. baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teasspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4 in. meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (you should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 min., until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.
In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over med.-low heat in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5-6 min., stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6-8 min.,a until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 min. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 min., until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan cheese.