Need to Sell? Click here to place a classified ad.

Vote for your favorite businesses and professionals until 2/24

Submit a News Tip or Submit an Event

Watch #OnTheStacks Podcast! New episode every Wednesday.

By Mark Guydish [email protected]

Fresh basil and Parmesan top this Italian Style Wedding Soup. I used frozen meatballs that didn’t have an excess of spices, which gave it a clean, balanced taste

Meatballs and orzo also part of the wedding party

The ingredients for Italian Style Wedding Soup, from the back of a Progresso Chicken broth box.

There is, of course, no such thing as a foolproof recipe. Soup is usually pretty close, because you can keep doctoring and/or diluting most mistakes until it becomes palatable. But it does have to be soup, not broth-sopped pasta. That’s what I ended up with when I made this as the opener for a Valentine’s Day dinner for MT and her mom.

For some unfathomable reason, when it came time to add the orzo, I just opened the bag and poured it all in, then went about cooking the entree and sides (future test kitchen articles, but to whet your appetite, the main dish was actually called “Marry Me Chicken”). The recipe only called for ⅔ cup of pasta (⅓ as noted below, but I doubled it). So when it came time to serve the simmering soup, all I had was a large pot of extremely well-hydrated orzo with meatballs and some carrot, onion and garlic.

Fortunately we had some chicken bouillon cubes in the cabinet that let me whip up another quart of broth, which I divvied into bowls and supplemented with some of the besotted orzo, meatballs and flavors. Some basil and Parmesan on top, and voila, disaster averted.

It was a big hit. As MT lapped it up, she murmured more then once “This is wonderful.” Her mom liked it too. I found it to be a particularly complementary blend of flavors, nothing overwhelming, unlike some servings from restaurants that often seem to overdo the “spicy” in their spicy mini-meatballs (or sausage).

That was a mild surprise because I used the same brand of frozen meatballs (Mama Lucia) that I had used in the jelly meatballs recipe I wrote about in December. That was a tangy dish to begin with because of the barbecue and sriracha sauces, and for me those meatballs seemed a bit too much kick in the mix. But the meatballs I used in this recipe seemed substantially less spicy, probably because they were “home style” instead of “Italian style.”

The next day I bought three more quarts of broth and another bag of mini-meatballs and made enough soup to take into the Newsroom Taste Testers. I actually had an errand to run, so I left the soup in a an electric slow-cooker, some basil and grated Parmesan reggiano, and headed out the door, trusting MT to serve anyone interested. Her report:

“I’ve had Italian wedding soup in restaurants and always liked it,” news editor Roger DuPuis said, “but this is so much better. The basil makes all the difference in the world. My first spoonful had cheese and basil. It was outstanding.”

As regular readers know, Parmesan reggiano and basil are two of my favorite ingredients in many dishes, so I concur.

“I thought the orzo was definitely a nice touch,” reporter Margaret Roarty said. “The meatballs were really flavorful, too.”

“I’m not a fan of Italian wedding soup because it always seems to be very greasy,” Bill O’Boyle said. “But the first thing I noticed about this was, it wasn’t greasy. As a result, I enjoyed it. Very tasty!”

When I got back to the newsroom, Bill asked how I managed to make it without the greasy feel. I don’t know, though it may be the use of frozen, pre-cooked meatballs. Any grease from the beef was long gone by the time they hit the pot.

Page designer Lyndsay Bartos had a different take, MT reported. “It tastes good,” Lyndsay said, “but I felt there was something missing. Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I felt like the love was missing. When you (MT) cook for us, I can taste the love.”

I was in the newsroom by then, and I merely assumed I had put too much love into the other three dishes for that meal. Then executive editor Joe Soprano (who, as usual, didn’t taste the offering) bellowed from his office. “Mark, you put love in everything you make. Don’t let anybody tell you different.”

The last to sample was reporter Kevin Carroll, who said “I really like Italian wedding soup. This is good, and I would go for it again.”

At this point MT doled out second helpings to Kevin, Margaret — and even Lyndsay.

Italian Style Wedding Soup (Progresso)

1 carton (32 ounces) Progresso reduced sodium chicken broth

⅓ cup uncooked rosamarina or orzo pasta

2 cups lightly packed fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped.

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leave.

In a 4 quart saucepan, heat oil over medium high. Add onion, carrot and garlic Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth. Heat to a boil. Stir in meatballs and pasta, return to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer about 10 minutes, or until past is almost tender.

Add spinach, cover and cook4-5 minutes until pasta is tender. top each serving with about 1 tablespoon cheese and 1½ teaspoons basil.

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish