Homemade Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

I've had this recipe for Italian Wedding Soup now for some time. I'm not sure where I got it, but it is made in a pressure cooker. You can prepare it in a soup pot, it will just take longer to cook. Personally, I like to have a pot of soup simmering on the stove on a winter day. It makes the place feel homey! By the way, I did use my pressure cooker, and it turned out great.

So, let's get started! The recipe called for 3/4 pound of ground beef. I used a pound of ground turkey meat. Add one egg, 2 TB of Parmesan cheese, grated, 1 tsp oregano, 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic (I used garlic in the tube...that's the squiggle in the front right), 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
Mix all of the above together with your hands. You can use disposable gloves for this step; I hate getting my hands gooey. Set the bowl aside and proceed to the "broth" portion.

Dice one yellow onion and add this to your pot or pressure cooker with 1 TB of olive oil. Saute until onions are translucent.

Next, add 8 cups of chicken broth. This is 2 containers of ready made broth. Or, if you have your own homemade chicken stock, use that.

Add 1/2 c. orzo pasta or other small pasta., 1 TBSP of Italian herbs, and 3 carrots, diced. Below is a picture of some orzo. I got mine at Whole Foods when I was in Las Vegas. I love that store!

Next, while the ingredients are simmering in the pot, begin making your meatballs. I used a melon scoop. The meatballs should be smallish, so I thought the melon ball scoup was the perfect size. I kind of scooped with the tool, then packed it with my other hand. Gently drop these into the simmering pot until you have made up all of the meatballs.

Add 1 pound of spinach to the pot, then shut your pressure cooker, and let it cook for 1 minute.

Release the steam, and slowly take off the lid. I served this with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. We had some ciabatta rolls, and I made turkey with provolone cheese sandwiches. Some dear friends came in from out of town for a very quick visit, and we enjoyed the soup together.

This is such a healthy, delicious soup. Hope that you enjoy it! I'd love to hear your comments.