You don’t have to get married to enjoy this delightful soup. Even while on the program, our healthy recipes make it easy to enjoy healthy alternatives to your favorite foods.
Ingredients
For the Soup:
- 1 stewing chicken or hen, approx. 5-6 lbs., cleaned well
- 1 large onion, cut in chunks
- 2 stalks celery, cut up
- 4 long carrots or ½ bag minis (to flavor soup, NOT TO EAT), cut in large pieces
- 1 turnip, cut in chunks
- 2 parsnips, cut in chunks
- 1 bunch fresh Italian parsley
- 1 large bunch fresh dill
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the Meatballs:
- 1¼ pound ground turkey (may substitute lean ground beef)
- 1 small onion, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- Fresh chives, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
- Dash hot sauce.
For Final Assembly:
- Fresh spinach, a small handful per serving, washed and trimmed
- Parmesan cheese for seasoning
Directions:
Soup:
- In large soup pot, sauté onion, celery, carrots, turnip and parsnips about 5 minutes.
- Add chicken.
- Add water to cover chicken.
- Add parsley, dill, salt and pepper.
- Heat on high until water just boils, then reduce to a simmer.
- If “scum” forms on top, do your best to skim off with a spoon.
- Cook for about an hour and a half, until chicken is cooked through.
- When cooled a bit, strain the soup into a separate pot – keep the veggies and chicken for another meal..
Meatballs:
- Place all meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine well.
- With a teaspoon, place 1″ to 1¼” balls onto a sheet pan – makes about 30 meatballs
- Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees until just browning. Set aside..
Assembling the Italian Wedding Soup:
- Just before serving, place the meatballs in the warm soup and simmer until hot.
- Stir in fresh spinach and cook for about a minute, until the spinach wilts.
- Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
- If you just love some pasta in your wedding soup, add in some cut up Shiratake noodles, prepared per package directions (that is important!) Or you can add in cut up Mock Matzoh Balls – see the recipe on our website.
