Roasted Kale Wedding Soup
This is a variation of one of my favorite soups. It uses spinach and delicious roasted kale in place of the traditional escarole and chicken meatballs instead of beef. This is a wonderfully comforting soup especially on a snowy winter afternoon!
The first step is to separate the kale from the tough stems and roast it in the oven. It roasts until it is crispy and brown.
At this point, you essentially have kale chips which are hard to resist. They're very tasty, so try to control the urge to munch away too much of it!
Now, you just have to start building the soup starting with your onions and veggies.
While everything is browning, it is a perfect time to make the meatballs. Adding the milk to the breadcrumbs is a key step to making sure they are moist and tender. I used a small scooper to make sure all of the meatballs are the same size (I divided each scoop into 2 meatballs). Make sure they are small. You don't want to have to use a knife when you're eating soup!
The liquid I use is my own homemade broth. I make a bunch and then double bag it and freeze it. This makes it easy to pull out of the freezer when I need it.
This is my other secret weapon...a parmesan rind. I bought a small chunk of parmigiano reggiano the had the rind still on it. I cut away the rind and let it melt into the soup as it simmers. It makes the soup very silky and gives it a subtle creaminess. The cheese that I cut away from the rind was extra to grate and sprinkle over the top of the soup.
For the pasta, I chose ditalini because it was the smallest pasta available at my grocery store. Choose any small pasta you like. I do recommend making it separately and pouring the soup over it so that the pasta doesn't absorb all the liquid in the soup and get slimy.
Roasted Kale Wedding Soup
Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1 large bunch raw spinach
3 T olive oil
2 t kosher salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion
2 carrots or 20 baby carrots
2 ribs of celery
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon
1/2 C dry white wine
7-10 C low sodium or homemade chicken broth
1 lb lean ground chicken
1 t sage, chopped
1 1/2 C breadcrumbs
1/4 C milk
1 egg beaten
1 t parsley, chopped
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
1 small parmigiano reggiano rind
1 lb ditalini
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove ribs from kale and put on a foil lined baking sheet. Toss with 2 T olive oil, 1 t kosher salt and 1/2 t ground black pepper. Put in the oven to roast for 12-15 minutes stirring once during cooking. Remove from the oven and allow kale to cool.
Pour 1 T olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Chop onion, carrots and celery and add to the pot with remaining salt and pepper. Cook until the veggies are tender. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add wine and lemon juice and cook for a few minutes more. Finally, add about 5 C of the chicken broth (add more later if you need more liquid). Bring to a boil.
While the broth is heating up, make the meatballs. In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the milk, cheese, sage and parsley (I added some salt here to season the meatballs). Stir until the everything is moistened. Add the chicken and beaten egg and stir with your hand a few times. Do not overwork the meat, just barely incorporate the ingredients. Roll the mixture into small, uniform meatballs. Drop the meatballs into the now boiling soup. Continue to boil until the meatballs are just cooked through (about 10 min). Add more broth as needed to cover meatballs. Turn down the heat to medium low. Wilt in the kale and spinach and add the pamigiano reggiano rind. Allow the soup to simmer for another 20 min or so.
While the soup it simmering, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the ditalini until al dente. Drain and set aside.
To serve, put some ditalini in a bowl and ladle the soup over the pasta. Top with grated parmesan and savor a comforting bowl of soup!
