Vegetarian Italian Wedding Soup

This is one of our favorite soups, perfect for fall weather. Italian Wedding Soup is named for the “marriage” of meatballs with vegetables. We have created a vegetarian version of this classic soup by honing our skills at seasoning plant-based impossible meat to create delicious meat-free meatballs. This soup is easy enough for me to whip up on a weeknight, as it only requires a few vegetables, some veg broth, and pantry items like tiny pasta. The fresh dill and white wine are additions that make the broth especially delicious.

How to make vegetarian meatballs:

For the vegetarian meatballs, add the traditional meatball seasonings to impossible or beyond plant-based meat. This is where you buy a brick of plant-based meat instead of the patties. I happen to prefer the texture of impossible. We like to add an egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, lemon zest, grated garlic, salt and pepper. The lemon zest is my own addition which brightens the soup. To completely veganize the recipe, use aquafaba instead of egg, and nutritional yeast instead of parmesan.

Simply combine all of the veg meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl, then roll into small balls using your hands. The ingredients generally mix a little better if you add the impossible last after mixing the other ingredients. You have a few options on how to cook the balls. Either cook them directly in the broth, panfry them in a cast iron pan, or bake them in an oven or toaster oven.

A note on flexibility:

I usually make this soup by feel without measuring anything, so I have included several sliding scales for quantities. You might want anywhere between 8-12 cups of broth depending on how brothy you’d like your soup. You can also adjust the amount of leafy greens and pasta.

Speaking of pasta, use the tiniest pasta shape you can find. The tiny pasta balls “pastina” resemble Israeli couscous, and are the traditional shape for this soup. However, these can be hard to find in many American groceries. Feel free to use other tiny pasta shape that you have access too like orzo, tiny stars, mini shells, or mini macaroni.

You can choose to cook the tiny pasta directly in the soup, or alternatively cook it in a separate small saucepan of salted water. It is easier to cook them together, but you might want to control the cooking time and tenderness of the pasta. In this case, you might want to spoon the cooked pasta directly into bowls when serving.

You can also choose leafy green you prefer. Escarole is traditional, but you can use spinach, chard, kale, or endive.

You can also decide how big to make your meatballs, and note that they will expand in the soup. Many traditional recipes have you roll them about 1/2 teaspoon in size, but if you are pressed for time, it is quicker to make bigger ones.

Vegetarian Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup is named for the "marriage" of meatballs with vegetables. We have created a vegetarian version of this classic soup by honing our skills at seasoning plant-based impossible meat to create delicious meat-free meatballs. This soup is easy enough for me to whip up on a weeknight, as it only requires a few vegetables, some veg broth, and pantry items like tiny pasta. The fresh dill and white wine are additions that make the broth especially delicious.

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Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery ribs
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 8 – 12 cups light vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
• 8 – 10 ounces leafy greens such as escarole, spinach, chard, kale, or endive
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup tiny pasta such as pastina, orzo, tiny stars, or mini shells
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Vegetarian Meatballs

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan or pecorino
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 big pinches salt
• black pepper
• 1 package Impossible plant-based meat

To Garnish

• good quality olive oil
• grated parmesan

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Instructions

 

• Chop the onion, carrots, and celery. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. When hot, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté until they are starting to color, about 8 – 10 minutes.
• Add the white wine, and let it simmer 1 minute.
• Add the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Cover and let simmer about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the vegetarian meatballs. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients except the Impossible meat. When these ingredients are well-combined, then add the Impossible meat last and use a fork or your hands to work the ingredients together.
• Use your hands to roll the vegetarian meatballs into small balls, either 1/2 teaspoon in size or a little bigger. Arrange them on a clean plate. Continue to make balls with the remaining mixture.
• Cook the vegetarian meatballs. I usually lightly panfry them in a cast iron pan, but you can bake them in the oven or toaster oven, or you can gently cook them in the soup. If using a cast iron pan, add 1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan and heat to medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the balls and gently arrange them in a single layer. When the bottoms start to brown, gently use chopsticks or a spatula to turn them over and cook the other side.
• When the balls are cooked through, add them to the soup. At this time, also add the chopped dill, leafy greens, and tiny pasta. Cook about 5 – 6 minutes.
• (Alternatively, you can cook the tiny pasta separately in a small saucepan of salted water.)
• Taste the soup and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
• To serve, ladle the soup into wide bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of good quality olive oil and a dusting of grated parmesan.

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