Happy New Year! No Resolutions! Italian Wedding Soup!

Let's face it, we don't keep our resolutions. Resolutions are pretty much a thing of the past by the third week of January, and I believe my estimation is a generous one! In that spirit, I do not have a resolution for 2014. I just intend to keep on cooking, eating and creating beautiful foodships throughout the year.

So let's begin!

For me, January is all about winter storms and Italian wedding soup. While every other food writer, chef and TV food show host hail the virtues of health salads and detox cocktails in this aftermath of the holiday season, I decline to join the crowd. Why should I blog about one of my salad recipes? There will be time enough for that in July. There are plenty of lean meal recipes floating all around the universe this week, and that fact puts me right into a comfort zone where I am completely off the hook from encouraging everyone to go from 5000 calories per day to 1200.

That said, I am sitting here on the second day of this month and waiting for the predicted snow storm to hit the Northeast. I get a lot of work done at my desk during the winter months and especially during a snowstorm. On such occasions I always like to have a pot of soup ready to keep me company. Italian wedding soup is among my favorites, and it is perfect snowstorm comfort food.

In my new cookbook, Foodships, I write about my love for Italian wedding soup, and I also write a bit about its origins. Contrary to what many may think, the name of this soup did not develop due to a presence at the happy occasion of marriage. Rather, it is called wedding soup because the ingredients, to many Italians, are a perfect marriage of meat and vegetables in a delicate broth.
For my Northeast readers, enjoy your soup in the coming snowy days! For the rest of the country, make soup anyway! Happy New Year to one and all!

Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 pound of ground beef
1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large bowl, mix bread crumbs, ground beef, Pecorino Romano cheese, egg, and parsley, salt and pepper. Press garlic cloves through a garlic presser and add to mixture. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Roll into baby meatballs. In a large soup pot, warm olive oil over medium heat and brown the meatballs. Remove meatballs and set aside.

Soup
One medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons chicken base
2 cups of fresh escarole, cleaned and chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup Pecorino Romano grated cheese
Acini de pepe
In the same large soup pot used to brown the meatballs, add onion to the drippings and cook until tender. Mix in chicken base and allow to dissolve well. Add escarole and stir as greens start to wilt down into the onions. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Pour in the chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Add meatballs and allow to simmer another 15 minutes. In a second pot, boil water for the acini de pepe. When water begins to boil, add salt liberally. Let water return to a boil. Add acini de pepe, and cook until al dente. Drain and add to soup along with Pecorino Romano cheese.