Italian Wedding Soup

Submitted by CookingONTheSide

"I love wedding soup and this is one of my favorites."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Yields: 2 1/2 quarts
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1⁄2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb bulk Italian sausage
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 1⁄2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 (14 1/2 ounce) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans beef broth
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1⁄4 cup minced fresh basil
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope onion soup mix
• 4 1⁄2 teaspoons ketchup
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 1⁄2 cups uncooked penne pasta

directions

1. In a large bowl, combine eggs and bread crumbs. Crumble beef and sausage over mixture; mix well. Shape into 3/4-inch balls.
2. Place meatballs on a greased rack in a foil-lined 15-inch 10-inch x 1-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until no longer pink.
3. Meanwhile, in a soup kettle or Dutch oven, sauté carrots, celery, onion and garlic in oil until tender.
4. Stir in the broth, spinach, basil, soup mix, ketchup, thyme and bay leaves.
5. Drain meatballs on paper towels.
6. Bring soup to a boil; add meatballs.
7. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.
8. Add pasta; cook 13-15 minutes longer or until tender, stirring occasionally.
9. Discard bay leaves before serving.

Reviews

[robi06222000]

This is a fantastic soup! Very easy to make and not at all expensive. The meatballs were excellent! My husband and I love soups and we both gave it a 10!

 

[Kim127]

This is fantastic! I've never made wedding soup with both ground beef and sausage before and really enjoyed the 'kick' the sausage gave to the meatballs. I subbed fresh, chopped Swiss Chard for the frozen spinach and dried basil for the fresh (used 1 tablespoon). Also used ditalini pasta instead of the penne. This smelled so good while it was cooking. Served it with some fresh bread. Got a huge vote by DH to make this again! Congrats on winning the football pool!

 

[lazyme]

Great soup! My husband must have said at least 3 times how much he liked it. It's simple and very hearty. Other versions of wedding soup that I've had include tomatoes, but I didn't miss them at all. Thanks a bunch, Lainey.

 

[beckas]

This makes a big pot of fabulous tasting soup. This is probably the best soup that I've tasted all year. I'd give this soup more stars if I could. The flavors are perfect. I did not have fresh basil so I used 2 TBS dried. I also added some garlic powder and black pepper at the end, along with a generous pinch of sugar (I add a pinch of sugar to almost all of of my soups). Thanks for sharing this recipe. It's going into my "keeper" file.

 

[melodyannhudson]

Thank you for sharing! This was a family favorite. I used Hot pork sausage with the hamburger and it gave it a great spicy kick but wasn't to hot, my 7 yr. old loved it! Definitely going to be making this again. Oh and I was short 1 C. Of chicken broth so I substituted with 1 C. Water and 1 chicken picante ramen noodle seasoning packet. Yum!