I actually didn’t mean to continue the Italian theme, but that’s how it worked out! Italian Wedding Soup is a quick and easy dinner which can be paired with a fantastic green salad and thick crusty bread for a full meal.
This week’s recipe is from Joyce Paladino-Anttonen. Joyce is a lovely ‘hockey-mom’ friend of mine that I met over 15 years ago. One of those people that you connect with right away, we still call each other ‘hockey wives’ when we bump into each other even though our hockey rink days are over. She is a very accomplished home cook and a few of her recipes have become part of my dinner rotation.
Minestra maritata- married soup, has actually nothing to do with bride and grooms and isn’t served in Italy at weddings. It is the marriage of leafy vegetables and pieces of meat, usually pork or sausage that were made into hearty soups in Southern Italy. The wedded part brought these simple ingredients into a wonderful thick and hearty soup.
Paterno Calabro is one of those small towns in Calabria, Italy where this dish became a staple for families during lean times. Joyce’s Mom, Iolanda Paladino, set off from Paterno in 1961 with her husband to make her way to Canada. Iolanda of course is Joyce’s teacher and still cooks alongside her. “Pasta of all kinds” she says is her favourite thing to feed to her kids and grandkids.
The charming Iolanda Paladino arrived in Canada with her husband in 1961 through Pier 21 in Halifax. Just last week, Joyce had the opportunity to visit the Pier herself and was deeply moved by the wave of emotions she felt while imagining what that moment must have been like for her parents.
Very much like my Nana, this particular recipe was presented originally with no amounts, cooking times or instructions of any kind. Joyce recounts many stories of learning how to cook an item with amounts not in measuring cups, but cupped in the palm of your hand. Pinky fingers were used to measure quantities of ingredients and the rest was measured with comments like “you’ll know when it’s enough.”
These are the spectacular cooks who have made their favourites so many times that they just know how to cook by feel. There are also the folks who need to be told exactly what to do, in an exact order with no small detail left out. Most of us fall somewhere in between.
Joyce and I worked together to put quantities and cook times into the items. Tweak it as your family likes, change the chicken to beef or pork, add a bit of heat, or change the spinach to arugula for some spice. Grab a kid if you have one around to roll some meatballs and help make it a new family favourite of yours!
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Italian Wedding Soup
Chicken Meatballs
450 gms ground chicken
1 egg
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp onion powder
½ cup bread crumbs
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Mix all ingredients well and form into small meatballs. It will be sticky!
Chicken Broth
2 tetra packs of chicken broth or ½ cup dried chicken base and 8 cups water
2 large shredded carrots
250 gms of ancini de Pepe pasta or other small soup pasta
1 cup packed fresh or frozen chopped spinach
Parmesan cheese for topping
Directions:
1 Bring the stock to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and carefully put the meatballs into the water one a time.
2 Boil gently for 30 min
3 Add shredded carrot – simmer for 5 min
4 Add pasta and simmer for 10 min
5 Add chopped spinach – one minute to wilt
6 Serve and top with Parmesan Cheese.
