Italian Wedding Soup

Without realizing it, I seem to make this soup every time I have my cousins around (which is never often enough, in my opinion).  Chelsea requested it on our drive home through the snowy mountains tonight, and as the temperature dropped and the sun went down,  I thought it was just about the most brilliant Sunday supper idea ever. With a bottle or two of wine.

While the meatball rolling seems a bit tedious at first glance, I was shocked how quickly and easily it came together.  Start to finish it took less than 30 minutes.  Why don't I make this delicious (and inexpensive) soup more often??  I have a feeling that is about to change.

By the way I have no idea why this is called Italian Wedding Soup... but perhaps it will bring you an Italian wedding in the near future. It's worth of shot.

Italian Wedding Soup
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' Everyday Italian


Ingredients:
Meatballs-
1/2 yellow onion (or 1 small onion) grated or very finely diced
1 large egg
2 cloves grated or minced garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
1 slice sandwich bread, crust trimmed, cut into tiny pieces (I used spelt bread and it was just fine)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb grass-fed ground beef (or half beef and half pork. Or lamb!)
Freshly ground black pepper

Soup-
12 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
1/2 pound kale (possible substitutions: escarole, curly endive)
2 large eggs
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for topping
Salt and freshly ground pepper

To Cook:
To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese and ground meat.  Using about 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet.

To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the kale and the meatballs (gently!) and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and kale is tender, about 8 minutes.  Whisk the eggs and cheese in a bowl to blend.  Stir the soup in a circular motion, and gradually drizzle the egg mixture in the moving broth, gently stirring with a fork to form thin strands of egg, about 1 minute.  Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with parmesan cheese.