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.

Italian Wedding Soup

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 for Italian Wedding soup

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
  • red peppers flakes, salt, pepper
  • small pasta such as acini, dinatali or orzo
  • olive oil
  • bread crumbs
  • 15 oz can cannelloni beans
Finely chopped carrots and onions for the soup
Chop your veggies in advance for a faster soup

What about the stock?

Got extra time? Use my homemade chicken stock found Here for an extra rich broth.

Pork sausage and light Panko crumbs makes the best meatballs for Italian wedding soup
These meatballs are so tender
Mix the seasonings well for the meatballs
Lightly mix the ingredients by hand so they stay light and not dense.

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
Make time meatballs no larger than 1 1/s inches in diameter
I roast my meatballs to save time, less mess to clean up, and I can multi task on the soup while they are roasting.
White beans go into the soup
Add the beans towards the end of cooking so they do not become mushy or soak up too much broth

Equipment needed for this recipe:

  • Heavy bottomed soup to or Dutch oven
  • rimmed baking sheet
  • parchment paper
  • grater for the cheese
  • soup ladle
  • measuring cups and spoons

Add kale into the soup
The greens only need a few minutes to cook.

Other Italian inspired Recipes to Try:

A steaming bowl of Italian wedding soup

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.
Serve Crusty bread with your Italian Wedding Soup

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.

Quick Italian Wedding Soup with Roasted Meatballs

Recipe by Meggen Arthur Wilson Course: Montana Kitchen, Soups u0026amp; StewsCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium
Servings

6-8

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

30

minutes
Calories

447

kcal
Total time

1

hour 

A simple hearty soup recipe made with roasted meatballs, heart healthy greens, carrots, onions, celery and a yummy pasta. This soup comes together quickly- roast the meatballs while you sauté the veggies and cook the pasta to get dinner on the table in a flash.

Ingredients

  • For the Soup
  • 1-2 Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • 2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped

  • 2 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 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

  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

  • 4 TBSP Minced herbs- Rosemary, Thyme or Italian herbs, divided

  • Pecorino cheese for serving

  • For the Meatballs
  • 1/2 lb ground sweet pork

  • 1/2 lb ground pork

  • 1 large egg, well beaten

  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

  • 1 tsp chopped rosemary

  • 1 tsp chopped thyme

  • 1 tsp kosher salt

  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

  • 1 garlic clove, finely minced

  • Extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  • 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.

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