Quick Italian Wedding Soup with Roasted Meatballs
Ready in under an hour, this Quick Italian Wedding Soup with roasted pork meatballs is the perfect soup for a busy day.
How to Make Quick Italian Wedding Soup:
- Make meatballs with pork, bread crumbs, egg, herbs and cheese. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes while you prepare your other ingredients.
- Sauté finely chopped carrots, onion and celery, garlic in a heavy pot. Add in herbs, red pepper flakes and chicken stock or broth.
- Stir in the roasted meatballs and their juices.
- Add in a can of drained white beans, greens and tiny pasta of choice.
- Serve with nutty pecorino cheese and crusty bread.
Ingredients in Quick Italian Wedding Soup:
fresh ingredients-
- egg
- sweet pork and Italian pork
- pecorino & parmesean cheese
- kale, Swiss chard or escarole
- onion
- carrots
- celery
- garlic
- thyme and rosemary
pantry items-
- chicken stock or broth- Here is the recipe for my homemade chicken broth
- red peppers flakes, salt, pepper
- small pasta such as acini, dinatali or orzo
- olive oil
- bread crumbs
- 15 oz can cannelloni beans
What about the stock?
Got extra time? Use my homemade chicken stock found Here for an extra rich broth.
What to serve with Quick Italian Wedding Soup:
- Crusty bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
- Small salad of citrus slices and winter greens like chicory with a light vinaigrette
- Crostini with ricotta and pancetta topped with tomatoes or peaches
- Focaccia
- Bowl of Olives
- White wine such Soave, Greco di Tufo, Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Riesling
- Sparkling water with slices of cucumber or citrus
Equipment needed for this recipe:
Other Italian inspired Recipes to Try:
- Classic Bolognese with beef, pork and veal
- Sun-dried tomato Bruschetta
- One -Pot ricotta, olive and mushroom creamy pasta
- Pasta E Fagioli soup
- 4-ingredient homemade limoncello
- Citrus marinated olives
- Candied hazelnut affogato
Pro-tips for a successful soup:
- This soup freezes well for 30 days in an air-tight container only if you omit the pasta before freezing. The pasta becomes too mushy once cooked and frozen. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge and then simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta after 20 minutes.
- To keep the soup from getting too thick for leftovers, cook the pasta separately and add into the individual servings bowls and not the soup pot. The pasta tends to soak up the broth.
- This is a great recipe to meal prep: assemble the meatballs and chop the veggies on your meal prep day. Roast the meatballs and start sautéing the veggies just before dinner to save loads of time.
More Pro tips:
- Use a foil wrapped then parchment lined rimmed baking sheet to roast the meatballs for easier clean up.
- Tiny pasta is the way to go for this recipe. Use nothing large than ditalini.
- To cook this soup up fast: prep the meatballs and start roasting, prep your veggies and parboil the pasta. Start sautéing the veggies, then add in the broth, meatballs to finish cooking through and the greens. Add in the beans and pasta last.
- Consider making a double batch of the meatballs and freeze them for a quick pasta dish that is ready on busy week nights.
Ingredients
For the soup
- 1-2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 unit large carrots peeled and finely chopped
- 2 unit stalks celery with leaves finely chopped
- 1 cup yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
- 2-3 unit fresh escarole, chard or kale torn into 2-3 inch pieces.
- 15 oz cannelloni or white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup acini orzo or ditalini pasta
- 1 quart PLUS 14 oz. low sodium chicken stock
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 4 TBSP Minced herbs- Rosemary Thyme or Italian herbs, divided
- Pecorino cheese for serving
For the Meatballs
- ½ lb ground sweet pork
- ½ lb ground pork
- 1 unit large egg well beaten
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp chopped rosemary
- 1 tsp chopped thyme
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 unit garlic clove finely minced
- Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
For the meatballs
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl except olive oil. Mix gently using clean hands. Pinch off small amounts and roll in your hands to make 1- 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Line them up on the baking sheet, but do not have them touch or they will steam and not roast.
- Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Roast for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
For the Soup
- In a large pot of Dutch Oven, heat 1-2 TBSP olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté the carrots, celery and onions for 5-7 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and 2 TBSP of the fresh herbs and cook 1-2 minutes more. Season vegetables with kosher salt.
- Carefully spoon in the roasted meatballs and any drippings from the rimmed baking sheet. Simmer on low for 10 minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock. Bring to a boil and add pasta, beans and greens- kale, escarole whatever you prefer. Reduce heat and simmer 10 more minutes.
- Ladle soup into serving bowls and garnish with additional red pepper flakes ( if desired) chopped herbs and grated pecorino.
- You may want to add more broth to the soup when serving leftovers. The beans and pasta tend to soak up lots of broth.
