recipe goodness :: grandma’s italian wedding chicken soup

My grandmother used to make this soup every New Year’s day. After what seemed like weeks of eating – from Thanksgiving to holiday parties, Christmas Eve and our big Italian Christmas feast, it was nice to come together for one more meal that was both simple and light, but still delicious {as Grandma’s cooking always was}. If you’re looking for something to lighten the load after all the Thanksgiving grub, this is the recipe for you!

This soup can be made any time of the year and makes enough that you can even freeze some to easily pull out a great mid-week meal. I would even suggest replacing the chicken with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving if you’re looking for something to do with your remaining bird this week. It’s not only a great cold day dish for us adults, but kids love the tiny meatballs and mini pasta. So spend a few minutes chopping and throwing all the goods in a pot — the fresh veggies and rich flavors from the meatballs and chicken will really put any canned soup to shame!

 

Grandma’s Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 8-10 | Cook Time: ~1 hour

Soup:
4 cans {14oz ea} chicken broth
1 cup of boiling water w/ 2 tsp dissolved chicken flavored concentrate
3-4 carrots diced
3-4 celery stalks diced
1 onion diced
2 boneless & skinless chicken breasts
1-1¼ cups pasta of choice {mini pasta is best!}
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan or romano cheese
Spinach, kale or chopped parsley {optional}

Meatballs:
½ lb ground beef
¼ cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Poach the chicken: Place chicken in a pan covered with water & bring to a boil over med. high heat, uncovered. Immediately remove from burner, cover, and let completely cool. Turn oven to 350 deg.

Prepare the meatballs: Combine all ingredients and thoroughly mix. Take a bite size sample and cook to test for taste. Adjust seasonings as desired. Form tiny marble sized meatballs. Place on cookie sheet and brown in oven ~5-10 mins. Remove and place on paper towels to drain.

Soup Broth: Meanwhile, in a large stock pot combine the chicken broth and the cup of chicken concentrate, cover and bring to a boil. Taste, add salt and pepper if required. If broth does not have a rich chicken flavor to your liking, add 1 tsp at a time of the chicken concentrate to reach the desired taste.

Dice the carrots, celery, onion and chicken into bite size pieces. When chicken broth reaches the taste desired, add vegetables, chicken, and meatballs; bring to a boil then lower to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables reach the tenderness of your liking {I prefer al dente as the vegetables will soften as they continue to absorb the broth}. Optional, when the soup is almost done add torn spinach kale or chopped parsley just for color.

While the vegetables are cooking, in a separate pot prepare the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the box.

To serve: place desired amount of pasta in soup bowl add chicken soup, and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Tip from Grandma: Keep the pasta in a separate container when you store leftovers so they don’t soak up the broth and get too soggy. Add them to the bowl and pour of hot soup when ready to serve.

More from Grandma’s Kitchen:
Secret DiLaura Family Frittata with Sweet Italian Sausage
Violet’s Lemon Cheesecake with BBQ’d Summer Berries