Italian Wedding Soup

Recipe Ingredients: 

• 1 pound ground meat beef, pork, chicken or turkey or a combination of them combined with some sausage
• 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs preferably fresh
• 1 large egg
• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• 1/2 cup kisan canola cooking oil
• 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• For the Soup:
• 1 small yellow onion finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 8 cups Aneto 100% Natural Chicken Broth or homemade
• 1 cup acini di pepe or other tiny pasta
• 1 large bunch leafy greens roughly chopped
• Freshly grated Parmesan for serving
• Red pepper flakes for serving optional

Recipe Method: 

• Place all of the meatball ingredients in a bowl or food processor and knead with your hands or pulse with the food processor until thoroughly combined.
• Form the mixture into tiny meatballs, about 1/2 inch in diameter and place them on a platter or cookie sheet. Wrap them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them until ready to use.
• In a medium stock pot, heat the oil and cook the onions and garlic until translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil.
• Gently drop the meatballs into the soup followed by the pasta. Let the meatballs and pasta simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add the leafy greens and simmer for 3-4 minutes or until wilted.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Dish up the soup and serve sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat.
• Optional (a tradition in some circles): At very end, once the greens are wilted, whisk 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese together with 1 large egg. Stir the broth to get it moving and gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the broth, stirring it gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg.

Recipe Tips:

*The meatballs can be made a day in advance as a time-saver and kept refrigerated.

*The longer the soup sits the more liquid the pasta will absorb, so if eating leftovers add more chicken broth.