Rachael: Wintertime Italian Wedding Soup Recipe with Fortified Stock

Rachael Ray: Fortified Stock for Soup

Rachael Ray got into the kitchen to make a warm winter version of the classic Italian Wedding Soup. Using store-bought stock helps you save time, and this recipe gives you a compromise by adding a cheese rind for plenty of extra flavor.

“I prefer to use just ground pork or ground veal so they’re very buttery and very mild,” Rachael said. You can use any mixture of ground meat for this meal, and one pound would yield approximately 25 meatballs.

Rachael Ray: Trick for Washing Produce

Rachael said her strategy with produce is to wash it all at once when she brings it home. She suggested chopping the greens and shaking them vigorously in a sink of water to help reduce the grit they could have picked up. Then try drying them on a clean kitchen towel.

She also said that you need lemon juice to help make the soup bright and full of life when you serve it. Though this is a popular first course, you could make it into a dinner.

Rachael Ray: Wintertime Italian Wedding Soup Recipe Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
• 1 lb Ground Pork
• 1 Egg
• 1 clove grated Garlic
• 1/4 lb Maltagliati (or any wide Egg Pasta)
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 1/3 cup Half & Half
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino (or use Parmigiano-Reggiano)
• 5 1/2 cups chopped, steamed Escarole
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt & White Pepper

Fortified Stock Ingredients

• 1 peeled, quartered Onion
• 2-3 stems Parsley and Thyme
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 quart Chicken Stock
• 3 cups Water
• 1 halved head Garlic (cloves in skins)
• 1 quartered Lemon
• Peppercorns
• 1 rind chunk from Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

Rachael Ray: Wintertime Italian Wedding Soup Recipe Directions

1. Start by making the fortified stock. Heat olive oil on medium high in a pot.
2. Brown onion with garlic and lemon slices so that all surfaces get caramelized.
3. Add herbs with stock, water, peppercorns, and the all-important hunk of rind. Let all this simmer for about 20 minutes. Then cool and strain.
4. Stir breadcrumbs with cream and let rest for a few moments. Fluff the mixture using your fingers.
5. Mix ground pork into the bowl. Next, add egg, garlic, nutmeg, cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper.
6. Bring the stock to a low boil. Form meatballs into 3/4” round balls and add them to the stock as you go.
7. Let all the meatballs simmer for a few minutes.
8. Add pasta and cook about another four minutes.
9. Wilt the greens on top of the soup. You may have to do this in batches, but it will shrink.
10. Serve with lemon juice.