The World in a Bowl Night 3: Italian Wedding Soup & GF Herb Bread

Tonight's stop was in lovely Italy through a bowl of Italian Wedding soup!  After reading up on this soup, I found that it was not served at weddings, but rather that is the english translation of  si maritano bene which means the ingredients are well married together!  I would whole heartily agree that the ingredients do marry very well together!  It is very flavorful without one part being overwhelming.  In little over an hour, I was able to have the soup complete and simmering.  The prep time included making 4 dozen meatballs!  As with any good italian meal, we needed a nice bread to sop the bowl.  I bought Pamela's gluten free bread mix and instead of making a regular loaf, I added italian herbs and baked it in a 10 inch round cake pan.

I made a large batch (12 servings) so that I could freeze a portion for another meal.  If you only want to get one meal out of the pot then just cute the ingredients in half.  

Si può godere questo meraviglioso pasto nella vostra propria cucina!

Italian Wedding Soup:

Ingredients:

2 lg containers chicken broth

6 cups water

4 doz meatballs (recipe below)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 medium carrots, diced

1 heart celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 cups Acini de Pepe pasta

1 cup Parmesan

3 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

Meatballs:

1 lb italian sausage

1 1/2 lb 80% lean ground beef

1/2 cup Romano cheese, shredded

3 eggs

1 cup bread crumbs

2 tbsp fresh parsley

Directions:

Place water and chicken broth in a large stock pot over med-high heat.  Mix all the meatball ingredients together and then form into 1 inch balls.

Place the meatballs in the broth mixture and bring to a boil for 30 minutes.  Remove the meatballs and replace them in the pot with the chicken breasts and diced up vegetables.  

Cook for 15 minutes and then remove the chicken to a cutting board and cut into small pieces.  Add the meatballs, Parmesan cheese and pasta to the broth and cook for 10-12 minutes.  Add the chicken back to the pot and let simmer over low heat until ready to serve.  Add more water if needed when soup is mad more than 1 hour ahead.