Italian Dandelion soup
My family's Italian Dandelion Soup is the perfect merge between chicken soup, Italian Wedding Soup and dandelion soup.
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 2.5 lbs chicken breast, bone-in
- 2 carrots cut into chunks
- 3 celery stalks cut into chunks
- 5-8 garlic cloves slight crushed, skins on
- 1 yellow onion quartered, skins on
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ bunch fresh parsley
- ¼ bunch fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 3 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 10 cups water
- 1 bunch dandelion greens chopped
- 6 egg whites
For the meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
- ⅔ cup milk
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggion
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 egg
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Add everything up until the dandelions to a pot. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer for 1.5 hours.
- While that's happening, make your meatballs and cut your dandelions into pieces. For the meatballs, let breadcrumbs soak in the milk for 5 minutes, then add everything to the ground beef, mix, and roll into small meatballs. Set aside.
- Drain the soup into another pot, tossing everything but the chicken.
- Shred the chicken using two forks, making sure to throw out the bones and skin.
- Add chicken back to broth along with the meatballs and dandelions. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for another hour or so.
- Towards the end, add the egg whites to the simmering soup, making sure to stir them around so ribbons form.
- Taste for seasoning and add a touch more salt if needed. Serve with freshly grated Parm or Locatelli, red pepper flakes, and freshly ground black pepper.