Italian wedding soup is a perfect wedding of flavors

And now here is our last offer: an Italian wedding soup, an old Neapolitan dish that has nothing to do with weddings. The traditional name, Minestra Maritata, which means “married soup” – because the ingredients are well together – are ultimately known as the wedding soup.

Where once the pot is simmering with a fleshy bone and wild green vegetables harvested in the surrounding countryside, modern bowls are filled with meatballs, green vegetables and small pasta. The original rural recipe, made by people who lived from the earth, draws its flavor from the bone in the pot, probably pork and perhaps left-wing vegetable.

Today, we are likely to take a box of chicken broth in the supermarket shelf. Buy the best brand you can find because it really determines the quality of what is in your bowl. If you roast your own chicken or buy a roasted bird, scrape the pieces and juices at the bottom of the pan or container in a bowl, dilute with an equal amount of water, and use it as a broth, or to enrich the stock purchased in store. Collect it in the freezer and when you have enough, make the soup with all the homemade broth.

Grannies around the world will be proud of you.

Some Italian Americans call this snail soup because they add so many greens. Escarole is slightly bitter (in the most attractive way), just like chicory, another favorite green. A softer element in the pot would be the carder or spinach.

The meatballs here are mixed with chopped turkey – you can use chopped chicken, beef or pork – parmesan, an egg and enough fresh breadcrumbs (based on sandwich bread or dinner) to bind them. Roll the small meat dumplings with wet hands and refrigerate them on a baking sheet on board for half an hour, or during the night, until they refresh.

Cook everything in layers. Place the meat dumplings in boiling broth and after a few minutes, add tiny pasta. This could be the rice -shaped orzo, small tubes called ditalins, the tiny pepe acini points or the miniature butterfly fasteners labeled. The start of the pasta will give the body of the soup.

When it is almost tender, add the greens and simmer until they collapse. Push the soup in bowls and serve with more parmesan to sprinkle.

There is something fun in a bowl of broth with delicious little meatballs. The Greens give you a crunch and the parmesan adds a bite from Umami to hazelnuts.

The winter soup team is registered for the moment. We hope you have found new ideas for night dinners in recent weeks. Take the recipes you like and roll them in your repertoire. Or use recipe parts, or even just a technique.

In New England, soup is not a winter activity. Our jar simmer for three seasons. Yes, we are happy when he finally degets and the nights are no longer fresh, but we hang our ladle with great reluctance.

The hot soup is inviting, it’s nourishing, stimulating, soothing. Sirotz while sipping it, it slows you down. Thank you for coming to see what’s in our pot.

Italian wedding soup | By Sheryl Julian

Portions: 6

Soup ingredients

2 slices of firm white bread or 1 bun of dinner, torn into ½ inch pieces or 1 cup of fresh white breadcrumbs (not dried)

½ cup of milk

1 egg

1 minced meat turkey book (black meat, if available)

1 clove garlic, grated

1 teaspoon of salt, or more to taste

½ teaspoon of black pepper

½ cup of freshly grated parmesan

3 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley

½ cup of tiny pasta like Orzo (rice -shaped), ditals (small tubes), pepe acini (tiny rounds), farballine (small arcs)

2 liters of chicken or broth

4 cups (packaged) snail, chicory, Swiss card beet, stem and cut into 1 inch pieces, or spinach spinach

Grated additional parmesan (to serve)

Soup instructions

1 and 1 Line a baking sheet on board with parchment paper. Have a bowl of cold water at hand.

2 In a bowl large enough to contain most of the ingredients, mix the bread or the roller or the breadcrumbs and the milk. With your hands, work the mixture to crush the pieces until they are all wet. Reserve for 10 minutes.

3 and 3 Add the egg, turkey, garlic, salt, pepper, ½ cup of parmesan and parsley. With your hands, work the mixture until it is completely mixed.

4 Wet your hands in the bowl of water. Use a tablespoon to remove the mounds from the meatball mixture and roll them in your palms to make 1 inch balls. The mixture is soft. If it is too soft to roll, add more breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons at the same time; The drieders are ok here. Adjust the balls to the baking sheet. Continue to shape until the mixture is used. You should have about 34 bullets. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or as long as night.

5 Pour the chicken broth or the broth into a pot. Bring to a boil. Add the meat dumplings to hot liquid carefully. Let the liquid come back to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

6. Add the pasta to the pot and cook, stirring once or twice, for 8 minutes or until the pasta is almost tender.

7 Add the snail, chicory, Swiss card beet or spinach babies in the pot. Support it with the back of a ladle. Cook for 2 minutes, uncovered or until the greens are withered, the pasta is tender and the meat dumplings are cooked. (Total simmer time is 13 minutes.) Enjoy the soup for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you wish.

8 Push the broth, meatballs and green vegetables in bowls. Serve with grated parmesan and crisp bread.

Recipe advice

Try to use any minced meat in the day to buy it because it deteriorates quickly. In the case of minced meat, the date of sale is generally exact.

Add more green vegetables to the pot (maybe 2 chopped cups).

When the soup is finished, set to the blanket and let the pot rest for 10 minutes to plump the pasta.

Instead of crisp bread, you can also serve bowls with thick slices of toasted bread, sprinkled with olive oil and leafy salt.

Sheryl Julian can be contacted in Sheryl.julian@globe.com.