ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP (ZUPPA)
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Put chicken broth in a large pot; add some freshly snipped herbs. Cut the rind off the cheese wedge & toss into the broth. Bring broth to a boil.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the onions, peppers, garlic, ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, ½ C. freshly grated cheese, ½ tsp. salt, 1 tsp. black pepper & snipped herbs. Wash your hands. That’s right, I am telling you to wash your hands- like right now. (Hence, why I have issues eating meatballs made by strangers….) Thoroughly blend the meat mixture with your hands. Get in there…work it, baby…work it…oh yeah, that’s right….
  3. Taking about a rounded teaspoon of the mixture, roll it into a pretty little ball & drop into the simmering broth. Repeat this step about 50 times (ha!) or until the mixture is gone. I add about ¼ C. finely grated cheese to the broth. Let broth & meatballs simmer 10 minutes. Add 3 handfuls of pasta & cook an additional 6-9 minutes until pasta is al dente. Toss the spinach or escarole into the soup, simmer two minutes & remove pot from heat.
  4. Top soup with freshly grated cheese, garnish with parsley & serve with crusty baguette.
Recipe Notes

Mama’s Tips

~It’s all about imported cheese.  And you can use so many different kinds… in this recipe I suggest the classic Parmesan and or Romano…but there’s also Asiago, Kasseri, Aged Provolone, Formaggio & hundreds of other Italian cheeses.  DO NOT tarnish or insult my recipe by using cheap, nasty-ass, dehydrated grated topping!

~For moist meatballs, add a dash of milk.  I do not add milk when making this soup because they are cooked in the broth, but just saying…milk = moist meatballs.

~You can use dried herbs instead of fresh, but I must say- fresh is just a thousand times better.  Fresh herbs tend to be subtle, delicate & have a magical way of pulling flavors together perfectly.  Establish yourself a little herb garden….there is nothing like fresh herbs at your fingertips.  You don’t have to worry about herbs going bad or the supermarket not having what you want…they’ll just sit there, growing & smiling at you, waiting for you to need a snip or two.