Italian Wedding Soup

This is the perfect soup.  Italian Wedding Soup is a special occasion soup. It's earthy, it's provocative, it's special, it's basic....and it happens to be my husband's favorite. Truth be told, the name is a mixed-up American translation of the Italian 'Minestra Maritata', literally Married Soup, meaning that meat and green vegetables go well together.  Hmmm. Let's go with the more romantic connotations of celebration and romance. This soup is truly a multi-step labor of love, and everyone you share it with will taste that. Grazie, Zia Elia.


One Whole Chicken   (preferably organic)
Celery, one full bunch, including leaves
Carrots, approx one pound
Yellow cooking onions, two small or one medium
Tomatoes, four whole ones
Endive Lettuce, one head
10-12 cups of water
Salt and pepper
100 Mini-meatballs (recipe follows)
2 whole eggs (preferably organic)
Pecorino-Romano cheese, freshly grated

To make the soup:

Rinse the chicken very well under cold water for several minutes.  Pat dry, cut into pieces, remove all skin.
Wash celery thoroughly.  Cut the entire bunch into thirds.
Cut carrots by removing tops and 1/2" from the bottoms, then cut in half horizontally. Cut onions in fourths.
On the bottom of a large, heavy duty stockpot, layer some of the vegetables. Place the chicken in the center.  Season the chicken generously with one teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place the rest of the vegetables, including the tomatoes, on top of the chicken. Pour in approximately 10-12 cups of water.
Place a lid snugly on the pot, and bring to a boil. Once the pot is boiling, remove the lid, skim the little white bubbles, and lower heat to a gentle simmer.  Simmer, uncovered, on top of the stove for two hours. Continue to skim throughout the cooking process. After the two hours, remove from heat and strain the soup.  Return the strained, delicious broth to the pot (wiped of any sediment) and put it back on the stove on low heat.

To prepare the lettuce:  cut in quarters and remove core. Dunk leaves into vigorously boiling water until soft.

A few minutes before you are ready to serve the soup......crack two eggs into a small bowl. Beat vigorously with a fork. As the prepared broth comes to a simmer, quickly pour the beaten eggs into the soup and stir with the fork, to disburse the egg throughout the soup. The eggs will cook very quickly, in just a couple of minutes. Now add the drained greens and the cooked mini-meatballs.  Sprinkle with pecorino-romano cheese and enjoy.

Ingredients for Meatballs:

1 lb   ground chuck
1/4 lb ground pork
3 small cloves of garlic, minced
1  egg
1/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to season

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the above ingredients. Using a small ice cream scoop to help keep them uniform, make the mini-meatballs. Think happy thoughts, roll them between your hands, and place on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate them for a few minutes to firm them up.  You can also do this by putting a few drops of white vinegar on your fingers as you roll.

To cook the mini-meatballs: in a small stockpot, bring three inches of water to a vigorous boil. Carefully place the minis in the boiling water in batches. Let them cook for 5-10 minutes.  Meatballs should be tender and cooked through.  Light brown outside and no pink inside.