Nov 5
2009

Italian Wedding Soup (with Turkey & Sausage Meatballs & Spinach) Recipe

Italian Wedding Soup (with Turkey & Italian Sausage Meatballs, & Spinach) Recipe

Whenever someone says “Italian Wedding Soup”, I picture a scene straight out of The Godfather. Plenty of double cheek kisses, elaborate traditions and rites, and enthusiastic toasts of “Per cent’anni” (“For a hundred years”) from the well-heeled guests. And then there would be the food. Course upon course of traditional family dishes, delighting each guest with the flavors and freshness of Italian food. Of course, one of the primo courses would be Italian Wedding Soup…or so my romantic food fantasy went. That is, until I discovered that “wedding soup” is a mistranslation of “minestra maritata”, which means “married soup”. This refers to the compatibility of green vegetables and meat. Sigh. Well, at least I still have oysters and chocolate.

Now, one can quibble about the proper content of meatballs. You may prefer beef, pork, veal, or some combination of these meats. However, I decided to try something a little different. Turkey and Italian sausage. Any concern I had about the level of moisture in these meatballs was quickly alleviated as soon as I tasted one of these meatballs. I chose to use spinach in this recipe because that is what I had in my fridge. However, escarole or curly endive would work just as well.


The Meatballs:
In a large bowl, combine 1 small onion, grated; 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley; 1 large egg; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons bread crumbs. Stir well. 


Stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 8 ounces ground turkey, and 2 Italian sausage links, removed from their casings.

For each meatball, scoop 1 heaping teaspoon of the turkey mixture and roll into a ball. Place on a baking sheet. Place on a baking sheet. 


The Soup:
Bring 12 cups of low-sodium chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs to the broth and cook at a gentle boil until the meatball are cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in 1 pound fresh spinach leaves.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan. Stir the soup in a circular motion and slowly drizzle in the egg mixture.


Gently stir the soup with a fork until the egg forms thin strands, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately. If desired, top each serving with grated Parmesan cheese.

Other soups using Italian sausage:
La Mia Cucina’s Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini 

Italian Wedding Soup (with Turkey & Sausage Meatball, & Spinach)

Adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Meatballs:
1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 large egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp bread crumbs
8 oz ground turkey
2 links Italian sausage, casings removed
Soup:
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 lb fresh spinach leaves
2 large eggs
2 tbsp grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Salt & pepper
Meatballs:
In a large bowl, combine onion, parsley, egg, garlic, salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. Stir well. Stir in grated Parmesan, ground turkey, and Italian sausages. For each meatball, scoop 1 heaping teaspoon of the turkey mixture and roll into a ball. Place on a baking sheet.
Soup:
Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs to the broth and cook at a gentle boil until the meatball are cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in fresh spinach leaves. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan. Stir the soup in a circular motion and slowly drizzle in the egg mixture.

Gently stir the soup with a fork until the egg forms thin strands, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately. If desired, top each serving with grated Parmesan cheese.
Serves 6 to 8.

 

 

 

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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Angie's Recipes November 5, 2009 at 10:37 am

The meatball spinach soup as a wedding soup sounds a perfect idea!

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2 Chelsey November 5, 2009 at 2:59 pm

I've looked at about 5 different foodie posts this morning, and this is the ONE I want to eat! Beautiful colors and simple ingredients. Only the best recipes are made of these. I can't wait to make it!

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3 Maria November 5, 2009 at 3:54 pm

I love the bright green color of the soup. A great way to get your spinach:)

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4 Mr. P November 5, 2009 at 4:56 pm

Can I come for dinner at your house? That looks so good! (Worth getting married for!) :)

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5 B.B.B. November 5, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Oh but this seems like a "get well soon" soup to me :) ))

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6 5 Star Foodie November 5, 2009 at 5:06 pm

Lovely soup and I love the addition of sausage in the meatballs!

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7 VintageMixer November 5, 2009 at 5:13 pm

I've been in soup mode for several weeks…this will be a good one to try! I love Italian Wedding soup and my husband will be thankful for the meatballs. :)

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8 ValleyWriter November 5, 2009 at 5:14 pm

Woah – that spinning soup makes my eyes go buggy – neat! :-P

That said, this does look really good. I love using ground turkey in place of beef or pork. Turkey sausage is also very tasty!

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9 wasabi prime November 5, 2009 at 5:28 pm

I have the strands of the Godfather theme starting to ebb into my mind… a song that will no doubt stay lodged in my brainpan indefinitely, like the kiss of death from a Corleone family thug. But as my last request, I would most assuredly ask for a bowl of this soup! Leave the gun, take the cannoli!

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10 Janice November 5, 2009 at 6:36 pm

Great post, lovely soup and I did enjoy the picture you painted. Thanks for posting in the UKFB 'I've blogged' group.

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11 Laura November 5, 2009 at 6:41 pm

This soup looks delicious, especially for the cold wether.

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12 Jenn November 5, 2009 at 6:53 pm

Nice why of what you had. I've had all kinds of wedding soups and yours seems to be the simplest I've seen yet. Meatball are a great chance to having it all chunky and what not. i like the spinach, too.

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13 Gera @ SweetsFoods November 5, 2009 at 8:02 pm

Turkey and Italian sausage at this soup is a marvelous idea…excellent for cold days :)

Cheers!

Gera

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14 Kalyn November 5, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Your soup looks great. I love this type of soup and your photos are making me drool!

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15 The Chickenless Chick November 5, 2009 at 9:39 pm

OMG that's EXACTLY what I picture when I think of Italian wedding soup.

Looks delicious!

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16 redkathy November 5, 2009 at 9:42 pm

Beautiful photos. You are right on with the translation. From my experiences, each family has their own rendition of a "married soup". My family didn't refer to this as a married soup or wedding soup. My mother called it, in English, minestra with tiny meat balls. My grandmother said it in Italian and I have no idea now how to say or type it. Her neighbor made a similar soup and called it the same Italian name. Quite a walk down memory lane your wedding soup recalled, thanks.

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17 MaryMoh November 5, 2009 at 10:23 pm

I know my family would love that soup. Looks very delicious. I love green vegetables in soup…makes it look healthy

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18 pegasuslegend November 6, 2009 at 12:36 am

perfect for the chill in the air!

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19 Drick November 6, 2009 at 1:48 am

I just made this last Sunday and it is so very delicious – one of my favorite soups….

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20 Cookin' Canuck November 6, 2009 at 4:27 am

Thanks to all of you for your very kind comments and personal memories of this soup.

I'm sorry that I didn't acknowledge your comments earlier. Google wasn't forwarding alerts to me, so I didn't know that comments had come in. Soon to be fixed!

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21 Christine November 6, 2009 at 5:02 am

Your soup looks attractive and comforting. Your pictures make me hungry again, even though I have had my lunch already. ^0^

This Wedding Soup looks like one of my Chinese one, that is also cooked with meatballs (I often use pork, beef, chicken or fish meat) with vegetables. Well, we do stir in beaten eggs, but not cheese.

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22 Jessie November 6, 2009 at 2:06 pm

I need to come over and have some of this. I've been feeling crummy the last few days due to a on coming cold and this soup is exactly what i need to get better!

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23 Tasty Eats At Home November 6, 2009 at 3:10 pm

This sounds lovely and not too heavy. Perfect! Your photos are great – love your spinning soup!

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24 Divina Pe November 6, 2009 at 4:30 pm

This is truly and comforting soup. There's a little bit of everything that makes it really enticing. It's probably the meatballs, then the eggs and the spinach, and of course the cheese. Your photos are great.

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25 penny aka jeroxie November 6, 2009 at 11:35 pm

Looks great and a nice simple unpretentious soup.

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26 April Cavin November 7, 2009 at 3:34 pm

Another great recipe from you that I'll be adding to my list! I'll be saving this one for our "Godfather" movie night :)

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27 Miranda November 7, 2009 at 9:28 pm

This is my husbands favorite soup. My mom makes it a lot during the winter and I can't wait to make it! Thanks for reminding me…

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28 Sophie November 7, 2009 at 9:45 pm

A lovely, lovely heart warming comfort soup , pluspoint: so healthy too!

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29 Bread and Jam November 8, 2009 at 1:10 am

One of my favorite soups! :) I like the sausage meatball idea – gives it zing. Delicious.

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30 Marillyn Beard November 8, 2009 at 5:20 am

I love the looks of this comforting soup!! Makes me want to wrap my fingers around a hot bowl if it right now! I found a recipe that calls for swirling the egg into the soup… I wanna try it and now can see how it should be done… Thanks!!

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31 nemawei November 11, 2009 at 6:55 am

This looks just like the soup my grandmother Luciano use to make! She could never tell me the recipe though:( One question.. Make the meatballs and put them on a baking sheet, but don't bake them at all? Just put them directly into the broth?

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32 My Little Space November 11, 2009 at 10:14 am

This looks axactly like our Chinese fishball spinach soup!

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33 Boilermaker November 12, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Looks tasty!

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34 Claudia November 13, 2009 at 4:10 pm

How funny – am making a version of this next week. I love the sausage meatball idea though … and the spinach is perfect!

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35 Chelsey November 18, 2009 at 1:21 am

So I finally got around to making your soup tonight, and it is AMAZING! I will be making this again and again. I give this recipe 5 stars, and so do my kids. My Mom stopped in for a quick minute and I encouraged her to try some…There were a few moans ensued. Thank-You!

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36 bathmate December 21, 2009 at 11:17 pm

Amazing so nice posting, I like it.
Bathmate

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