Italian Wedding Soup
From the Kitchen of Joe Valencic
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1~ 5-6# Soup chicken or
chicken parts 2 teaspoons Kosher salt 8 Quarts of water 4 Stalks of celery- diced 4-5 Carrots - diced 2 T Basil 1 T Powdered garlic |
1 Medium onion –
diced 2 T chopped parsley 1 C Strained tomatoes 2 C Finely chopped, cooked
escarole (only the green leafy parts) Marble sized meatballs
(recipe below) |
In a large stockpot combine all ingredients except for the escarole and meatballs. Cook until chicken is thoroughly cooked and starting to fall off the bones, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove chicken to cool, and check for flavor. Organic chickens will add more flavor. Add chicken base if needed or two cans of chicken broth and recheck flavor. Adjust seasonings as required. Shred cooled chicken meat and reserve in fridge.
Meatballs
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2# Meatloaf mix (beef,
pork, veal) 2 C Plain breadcrumbs 2T Parsley flakes 1/2C Finely chopped onion |
1/4C Grated Parmesan Cheese 2 Eggs 2 t Kosher salt 1/2t Fresh ground pepper |
Pre heat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients thoroughly and and pinch together to form marble sized meatballs. I use the large end of a mellon baller to slightly overfull, then roll into balls. This will make about 80 small meatballs about .38 oz. each pre-cooked weight. Place meatballs on baking sheets and cook for 20 minutes. Drain meatballs and add to soup. (I will sometimes make the meatballs ahead of time and freeze until IÕm ready to make soup.)
Cool soup down and chill overnight in a stainless steel non-reactive container. Skim and discard congealed fat before reheating and adding cooked greens. Reheat the soup. Blanch the escarole them finely chop and add to the soup. If you canÕt get escarole, you can use spinach or endive.
Optional Add-Ons:
Chopped small pieces of the chicken from the soup.
3 or more cups of cooked Ancini Di Pepe #28 soup pasta, or other small pasta like Ditalini.
Fresh grated Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese to sprinkle over soup.
Small oyster or soup crackers.
Remaining chicken can be made into chicken salad. Dice chicken and add mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, salt, pepper and celery seed. Makes great sandwiches.