Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup Or, as we know it, Chicken Soup With Greens And Little Meatballs. A son, who is a great cook, recently
served this soup to his Yankee in-laws. A lady, at the dinner, remarked, "Oh!. Italian Wedding Soup!" when she saw it, thus the name.
The original recipe for this soup used a fowl instead of a regular chicken. If a fowl is used, there will be more fat which will mean
the broth must be refrigerated before serving to congeal the fat for easy removal. Also, since a fowl is not used here, canned
chicken broth is used in place of some of the water when boiling the chicken.

1 plump chicken, about 4-5 pounds
1-quart chicken broth canned or packaged.
2 celery stalks with leaves, cut into large chunks.
2 fresh parsley sprigs
2 scraped carrots cut into large chunks
1 large ripe tomato, quartered or one from a can.
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 1/2 pounds escarole, well-washed and cut crosswise into thin shreds
1/2-cup water
1-pound ground beef
2 tablespoonfuls freshly grated Romano cheese
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/2-pound tiny pasta such as pastina, orzo or acini di pepe.

1. Clean and wash chicken well. Discard excess fat. Place chicken in a soup pot and add chicken broth and sufficient
cold water to cover. Bring it slowly to a boil and skim the surface often with a soup strainer.
2. When the water stays fairly clean, add the celery, parsley sprigs, carrots, tomato, salt and pepper.
3.Cover the pot tightly and cook slowly over low heat until the chicken is tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove the chicken,
bone some of the white meat and add it to the broth.
4. Reheat the broth over medium heat. Put the escarole in a large skillet with the 1/2-cup water. Simmer for 3 minutes,
strain, squeeze out excess water, and add to the broth.
5. Combine the ground beef, cheese, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Shape into ball no larger than 1/2 the size of a
golf ball (dip into water to keep the balls smooth and round). Add the meatballs to a separate pot with a small amount of
the broth and heat until cooked. About 5 minutes. Add meatballs to the broth discarding the broth used for cooking.
6, Cook the soup for 1/2 hour on low heat to combine the flavors thoroughly.
7. Cook the pasta in 2 quarts of boiling salted water. Drain, do not rinse, and add to the soup just before serving.
8. Sprinkle on some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serves about 10-15 (a pre-nuptial wedding party). Some individuals have been known to consume 3 or 4 large bowls with
good bread for an evening meal. The soup can be refrigerated for several days or frozen. edium size potato with the
vegetables so they can scoop it out with their sample as a "done-ness test."