This soup came to be as I was lying around recouping from my fractured shoulder, yes another bump for me.

It was a gloomy day in New York City when I turned on the TV and here was the Barefoot Contessa preparing her Italian Wedding soup.  It looked so comforting that I ran walked slowly to the fridge.

I had most of the ingredients except for the chicken sausage.  Also, she used carrots and celery in the broth and left it in the soup.  I used it to give it more flavor and then discarded it.  The carrots you see there and used at the end as I like my veggies a little crunchy.  Chop the spinach and placed on bottom of each bowl before pouring the hot soup over them to keep the color.

I am not a left over person, but ladies and gents this soup fed us for three days straight and the husband said it was one of my better soups, I agreed.

Ingredients for meatballs (24 meatballs): 
(adapted Barefoot Contessa-Italian Wedding Soup)

1 pound ground chicken
3/4 pound pork sausage, no casings
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
4 minced garlic cloves
4 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt/freshly ground pepper

Mix all the above, make meatballs and bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Soup:

12 cups of chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion cut in pieces
3 celery stalks, cut in thirds
4 carrots, cut in thirds
2 carrots, diced for later use
1/2 cup white wine (Sauvignon Blanc)
1 cup of small pasta (Acini di Pepi) or stars/tubetini
1/3 cup fresh dill for garnish
baby spinach ( a handful per plate)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large soup pot. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue until carrots are soft, the remove all so you have a flavorful stock. Add the meatballs and diced carrots. Then about 10 minutes later add the pasta and cook until al dente. Add spinach to you plate, ladle soup and garnish with dill.

BUEN PROVECHO!