This Italian wedding soup is truly a marriage of flavours and made quicker using a clever shortcut! This soup chock full of delicious meatballs, vegetables and star shaped pasta will leave you spellbound.
350g/12ozitalian sausages, casing removedI used chicken sausage
1carrots
2stalks celery
½onion
1clovegarlic
½tspItalian seasoning or dried basil and oregano combined
2litres/8 cupschicken stock
1Parmesan cheese rind (optional)
50g/1/2 cupsmall pasta such as star pasta (stelline), acini de pepe or orzo
2tbspchopped parsley
30g/1cupfresh spinachfrozen can be used
salt to taste
Instructions
Remove casing from sausages and cut them into 1 inch pieces, then roll each piece into a meatball. Sear the meatballs in a large soup pot in 1 tbsp of olive oil on high heat for approximately 5 minutes until golden all around but not cooked all the way through. Remove to a plate. Discard the fat but 1 tbsp.
To the same pot add chopped onion, celery and carrot and sauté for 5 minutes over low heat, then add pressed garlic clove and Italian seasoning and cook for 30 seconds longer. Pour in the chicken stock, Parmesan cheese rind if using, return the meatballs back to the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Then add the pasta, stir and cook the pasta according to package directions for 5-7 minutes. Add the fresh spinach and chopped parsley, let the soup simmer for 2 minutes, then take off the heat. Discard the Parmesan rind and serve with shaved or grated Parmesan cheese.