Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs

My friend Maureen has been making this soup on a regular basis for years. I’ve made it a few times too, and am happy to finally be sharing it. This soup is super delicious, healthy, and . . . there’s wine in it! It also makes some beautiful leftovers.

I highly recommend using a great chicken stock, preferably a homemade one.

It comes from the Whitewater Cooks Cookbook. The main change I made was to use turkey rather than beef for the meatballs. Turkey it s bit lighter, more heart healthy, and my main eater doesn’t eat beef. The only other change I made was to substitute the type of pasta, from Acini de Pepe to orzo (because that’s what I had in my cupboard), and to cook it separately. There are two reasons for cooking the pasta separately: everybody can add as much as they want to their soup (I prefer it light on the pasta), and I don’t like the leftovers as much when there is pasta in it because I think it gets too gludgy. Oh, one more change: I used fresh basil because I think dried basil tastes nothing like fresh. I keep fresh basil in my freezer for occasions like this.

Hope you love it too!

What you need for the meatballs:

•  450 grams (1 pound) ground turkey
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 egg

What you need for the soup:

• 2 tablespoons butter (or less if you prefer, as I do)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced (I will add more next time)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped
• 3 litres (12 cups) homemade  chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup orzo (or small pasta of your choice)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 pound fresh spinach, chopped
• Parmesan cheese for garnish

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F before making the meatballs. Prepare a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
2. Place all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands. Form bite-sized meatballs with your hands and place them on the baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a large pot, then add the onions, carrots and garlic. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes, until they are tender. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil, then turn to medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes.
4. In another pot cook the orzo.
5. Add some salt and pepper to the soup, then add the meatballs. Allow the soup to cook for a few minutes, until the carrots are just cooked through. 
6. Add the lemon juice, red wine and the chopped spinach and let it cook for a few minutes.
7. Ladle the soup into bowls with some orzo. Grate some Parmesan cheese on top before serving.
8. Enjoy!