Meatball Soup

Looking through the refrigerator on a cold March day, I spied a pound of ground turkey, two quarts of homemade chicken stock, and a bit each of baby spinach and arugula that was nearly shot. The cold weather definitely put me in a soup mood and for some reason, I thought to make the meatball soup that is commonly called Italian Wedding Soup here in the US.

Meatball Soup

This family of soups is not known by that name in Italy, however. It is often called zuppa di scarola (escarole soup, when made with escarole) or zuppa di verdure e polpettine (soup of greens and little meatballs). The English name comes from minestra maritata (married soup) from the marriage of the flavor of the greens and the meatballs, a happy union to be celebrated for sure! It's a great soup, but alas, has nothing to do with weddings.

I flavored my chicken stock with diced onions, leeks, celery, and carrots, poaching until just tender. Then I added the meatballs to the simmering stock for about 15 minutes. After poaching the meatballs in the soup, I added a little Mexican orzo-shaped pastina called semillas (seeds), the spinach, and arugula and let it simmer until the pasta was just done, another 8 or so minutes. All in all, this is a very quick and easy soup.

The Meatball Mix

The meatball mix could not be simpler, yet it is super flavorful, flavorful enough that Ann has asked me to make it over and over again as patties and as meatloaf. Many people would add grated cheese to their meatballs, but I was looking for a lower fat meatball, so I did not. To a pound of ground turkey, I added a bunch of finely chopped Italian parsley, four cloves of minced garlic, a teaspoon of dried basil, a teaspoon of Kosher salt, a pinch of pepperoncini (dried pepper flakes), and a slug of white wine.

Poaching the Meatballs