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If you have been following along with my blog you know two things:
1) I love my grocery store Marianos.
2) I love their free cooking classes even more!
Marianos is the type of grocery store I actually want to go to and do my shopping. Heck, my husband even enjoys it (and that is saying a lot because he used to hate grocery stores).
There have been some grocery stores near me in the past that I would actually dread going to. They were dark, and had a whole lot of packaged, processed foods but not a whole lot of fresh, local food. Do you have a store like this near you?
Marianos is bright, clean and packed full of fresh, local produce, a large selection of cheese from around the world, wines from every nook and cranny, friendly staff and let’s just talk for a second about their coffee. My ritual is to grab a latte on my way in because the coffee is so tasty (no, I am not paid to say these things–they are my true and honest opinions).
Ok–so now that you know my slight love for my grocery store (if you live in Chicago, find one and check it out) lets move on to the recent cooking class I did.
One of the soups we made was this Italian Wedding Soup (the recipe was actually a Martha Stewart recipe).
This soup offers healthy greens (escarole, which you can find it near the lettuce section) and turkey meatballs mixed in a chicken and tomato broth. The flavors are simple yet delicious. This soup is easy to put together too! At the end of the class I bought the ingredients (I know, I know I got sucked into their marketing tactics) and made the soup the next day for my friend that was stopping over.
She ate two bowls and reaffirmed that this soup is indeed a winner.
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup plain dried breadcrumbs
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 32 oz. chicken broth, no salt added if possible
- 2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes in juice, no salt added if possible
- 1 head of escarole (1 lb. total) trimmed and coarsely chopped
- In a large mixing bowl combine turkey, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and a dash of salt and pepper.
- Roll a tablespoon full of the meat mixture into small meatballs (I used cookie scoop).
- In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned.
- Add broth and tomatoes (with juice), bring to a simmer. Add meatballs and cook without stirring, until meatballs float to surface (about 5 minutes).
- Add escarole to the pot and simmer until it is wilted and the meatballs are cooked through (the meatballs took about 12 minutes total to reach 160 degrees).
- Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve with warm bread for dipping.
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Julia’s Notes:
-I also made an extra batch of the turkey meatballs and threw them in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes (or until the temperature inside the meatball reaches 160 degrees). I let them cool and threw them in a ziplock bag and froze them. They are perfect to use throughout the week to feed my little one or to throw in a batch of pasta sauce.
-I cut the escarole down from 2 heads (2 lbs.) to 1 because I felt that it was overpowering the soup. If you like to have a large amount of greens in your soup then go for 2 heads of escarole.
-My husband likes less tomato taste in his soups (I liked it just the way it was). If you prefer less tomato flavor and more broth then remove 1 can of the diced tomatoes from the recipe.
-I try to always look for low sodium or no sodium options in things like my beans, diced tomatoes, sauces and broths. I figure that the food we eat have enough salt in them as it is so it is nice to try and avoid the added salt. -If you like your meatballs on the smaller side just make them smaller–I made mine more of a medium size.
If you like this soup check out these:
Two Peas and Their Pod: Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Heather Cristo Cooks: Spinach Tortellini Soup
The Lemon Bowl: Hearty Vegetable Bean Soup with Greens
Enjoy!
Julia
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Looks delish!! I haven’t made this in ages – great reminder!!
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl recently posted..Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
I know–I hadn’t had it in a while either! I really liked it and you can make extra turkey meatballs for your little guy.
Free cooking lessons at your favorite food shop? What a clever idea and I’d certainly be a part of that if it was available around here. I love Italian wedding soup and love your changes.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef recently posted..How to Peel a Kiwi Fruit
I know! I love that they give free cooking lessons. There isn’t much free in the world these days!
This looks incredibly warm and delicious! How nice to have free cooking lessons!
petit4chocolatier recently posted..Chocolate Cupcakes with Soft Blue Butter-Cream Icing with Little Chocolate Sprinkles
It was nice to have free cooking lessons–they do one per month so there is always a chance to learn something new.
I am so glad you posted this recipe! It was DELICIOUS and yes I did eat two bowls everyone! The flavor was amazing!
I’m so glad you wrote about Mariano’s too – We are actually getting one out in the western suburbs – so excited!!
You were my taste tester! So glad you liked it! Next I need to make you my Minestrone and see if it lives up to your “Italian” standards!! Can’t wait for the blog to go live!
This is one of my favorite soups, we have never made it from scratch before though, this looks just awesome!
It is a good one and really easy to make! I liked that you can make the extra meatballs and freeze those for later.