Italian Wedding Soup

48 small, bite-sized, cooked meatballs (about 1.5 lbs ground beef, total)
2 TBSP butter, ghee, or coconut oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 – 4 large carrots, chopped (2 cups or more)
2 stalks celery, diced (approx 3/4 cup)
4 large cloves of garlic, minced or chopped
10 cups broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 lb pasta (any small shape that you’d like) (optional)
12 oz fresh, baby spinach
Fresh basil, chopped (as much as you’d like)
pure salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

• Make meatballs (or use some you’ve defrosted if you made extra last time).
• Heat butter or oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
• Add onion, carrot, and celery, and saute for 6-8 minutes.
• Add garlic and saute 2-3 minutes longer.
• Add broth and wine, and bring to boil.
• Add pasta (dry / uncooked) and cook until just shy of al dente.
• Add cooked meatballs and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Stir in fresh spinach and half of the basil and cook for 1 minute, until spinach is slightly wilted.
• Serve with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and topped with grated cheese if desired.
• Garnish each individual bowl with the remaining basil.

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• SIDE NOTES:

  ~  I’m full blooded Italian and have been to many weddings, but don’t recall ever having this soup at any such occasion! Upon looking into this a bit, I found that somewhere along the way, the original (Italian) name for this soup, “Minestra Maritata” was mis-translated.  The literal translation is “married soup” which in this case, refers to the ingredients — a perfect “marriage” of meat and greens.  You may now kiss the spinach…

  ~  This is kind of like chicken or matzoh ball soup but with meatballs instead – very delicious!

  ~  Plan on using about 8 meatballs per person (this recipe will feed 6 as a one bowl / stand alone dinner).  To give you an idea of how big I make the meatballs – 1 lb of ground beef yields about 32 meatballs. It’s a pretty easy meal to prepare, especially if you made an extra batch of meatballs last time & are just pulling them from the freezer.

  ~ Sometimes I use 8 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of beef broth (the beef broth adds a nice layer of flavor). Enjoy!  🙂

• 
   For those with various food restrictions, this recipe falls into the following categories:

  Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sugar Free, Grain Free, Vegan, Raw

  If eating dairy free, use coconut oil instead of butter and omit the parmesan cheese.  If eating gluten free, use gluten free breadcrumbs in the meatballs, and double-check your wine (or omit it if necessary).  Be sure to check labels of packaged ingredients if eating gluten and/or sugar free (omit the Worcestershire sauce in meatballs if necessary).  If eating grain free, use almond flour for the meatballs instead of breadcrumbs. 

  Adapted from  www.foodnetwork.com

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