Wedding Soup With Stracciatella

A marriage made in heaven! I love Italian wedding soup, and I love Stracciatella, so when I found this recipe at "The Food of Love", it was love at first sight--or, rather, love at first bite! This is great comfort food. You can make the meatballs with ground chicken or beef or turkey or sausage. For the greens you can use either spinach or escarole. And, for the pasta you can use either acine de pepe -or- orzo. Recipe makes enough to serve 2-3 people, but is easily doubled or even tripled.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• Meatballs

• 1  slice  white bread, crust removed
• 1⁄4 cup milk
•  garlic clove, minced
• 6  ounces ground turkey
• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 1  egg yolk
• 2  teaspoons fresh parsley, minced
•  salt and pepper

• Soup

• 4  cups chicken broth
• 2  ounces orzo pasta
• 1⁄2 bunch  fresh  Baby Spinach
• 1  egg
• 1  tablespoon water
• 2  tablespoons  grated parmigiano
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley
•  salt and pepper

Directions

1. Make the Meatballs:
2. Place the bread in a bowl and pour the milk over it. Let it soak for 5 minutes.
3. While the bread soaks, saute the garlic in the olive oil until translucent.
4. Add the garlic in oil, the ground turkey, the egg yolk, the parsley, and salt and pepper to the bowl. Use a fork to gently mix together--the less you handle the meat, the lighter the meatballs will be.
5. Divide mixture into 12 equal parts and form into balls.
6. Bring broth to a simmer and gently drop in the meatballs. Simmer 5-10 minutes, just until cooked through. Remove from the broth with a slotted spoon and set aside; keep warm.
7. Make the Soup:
8. Return the broth to a boil and add the orzo. Cook for 10 minutes.
9. When orzo is almost done, add the spinach and return the meatballs to the soup. Add parsley.
10. For the Stracciatella:
11. Break the egg into a small bowl, add the water, and stir briefly. Stir in the grated parmigiano cheese.
12. Quickly stir the soup, then drizzle in this egg-cheese mixture slowly so that the heat of the soup will quickly form the mixture into cooked strands.
13. To Serve:
14. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.
15. Ladle into warmed bowls and serve immediately.