montalian wedding soup
Winter=soup season. I’ve been making soup pretty much non-stop for the past few months. Many of these soups are vegetarian, light fare, full of pureed veggies, almost channeling veggie smoothie-dom. Many of these soups fall into the category of “girl food” according to Andy. Not that he doesn’t appreciate this, but apparently sometimes a man just wants some meat and potatoes. This soup was my idea of a good compromise. Italian Wedding Soup! Plenty of greens and plenty of meatballs. But not just any Italian Wedding Soup, Montalian Wedding Soup. Ground elk meatballs and loads of kale (which for some reason I think of as very Montanan, maybe because when I grew it in my garden last summer I didn’t pick the last of it until weeks after there was snow covering the remaining plants. It was all still wonderful — not at all affected by the cold and snow. This cannot be said of many garden plants that I have experience with. It is also full of vitamins A, C, — not just for citrus anymore —and K. I love kale). After that ode to kale, here is a pretty pot o’ soup:
This particular recipe I somewhat followed is by Giada De Laurentiis. It was simple and I liked the (nontraditional?) addition of eggs to create an egg drop soup of sorts. (Wikipedia is telling me that this egg drop is in fact a popular soup in Italy called stracciatella).
MONTALIAN WEDDING SOUP (adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’ Italian Wedding Soup)
Meatballs:
1 small onion, grated (I chopped mine, grating would be better to create a finer texture)
1/3 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
about 1 cup sourdough bread, chopped into tiny pieces
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
1 pound ground elk (you can substitute a mixture of beef and pork)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Soup:
4 quarts chicken broth (I used homemade but store bought is perfect)
3/4 pound kale, chopped
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
3/4 cup farro
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Meatballs: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix onion, parsley, garlic, salt, and bread in large bowl. Beat egg with milk in separate small bowl and add to bread mixture. Add elk and Parmesan and mix until combined with your hands. Form into 1 inch in diameter meatballs and place on a large, parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.
Soup: Meanwhile, heat broth to a boil in a large soup pot. Reduce heat, add farro, and simmer for about 30 minutes, until farro is almost cooked. Add kale and meatballs. Let cook for 7 minutes more, until kale has softened and lost some of it’s structure. Lastly, beat egg and Parmesan in separate bowl and drizzle into soup, stirring soup continuously to form thin stands of egg throughout. Ladle into bowls and topped with shaved Parmesan, maybe a little basil if you have it. Serves: 8. Time: It took me about an hour, 45 minutes if you’re good.
Andy graciously offered his assistance here so I had my third hand to stir, pour, and photograph all at once! Italian Wedding Soup: crossing the lines between man and girl food, one bowl at a time.
Where is the recipe for the homemade broth?
Ah! You’re right. No pictures but I made the broth with our Thanksgiving chicken (yes, chicken) bones, an onion, a couple stalks of celery, a couple carrots, rosemary, thyme, a few peppercorns, and a bay leaf. Cover everything with water, salt to taste, and simmer for around 6 hours. You can add more water as it goes to keep everything covered. Just strain and freeze for over-winter soup making!