Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 230g ground beef
• 230g ground pork
• 30g Italian bread crumbs or panko
• 35g grated Parmesan
• 10g chopped fresh parsley
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1g dried oregano
• 3g kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
• Olive oil, for forming the meatballs
• 1g black pepper
• 45ml olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 2–3 large celery ribs, diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
• 100g acini di pepe, ditalini or orzo
• 1.9L chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 90g packed baby spinach
• Grated Parmesan, for serving

Instructions

1. Crack the egg into a large bowl and beat lightly. Add the beef, pork, bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix gently but thoroughly. Coat your hands with olive oil, then form about 80 small meatballs, each roughly 2.5 cm wide, and transfer them to a plate or sheet pan.
2. Make the soup: In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry the meatballs in 2 batches, turning occasionally, until mostly browned all over, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
3. Add the onion, carrots and celery to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, 5 g salt, or 10 g for low-sodium broth, and 1 g black pepper. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Return the meatballs to the pot, add the broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in the pasta, lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach until wilted. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. (The broth should taste pleasantly salty.) Serve hot, topped with Parmesan. The pasta will continue to absorb liquid as the soup sits; you may need to add broth when reheating.