Breakfast or brunch item that is simple, affordable, and delicious and smells wonderful on a Sunday morning. shown to me by one of my former Mexican neighbors. For me, I typically make it vegetarian, but for visitors, I typically add a meat, typically sausage or chorizo. Delicious! In Mexico and Texas, it is a staple and a favorite!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 4 hrs 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 6 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 thick slice meaty beef shank with bone
- ⅓ cup coarsely chopped onion
- ⅓ cup coarsely chopped carrot
- ⅓ cup coarsely chopped celery
- 2 quarts water
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- ¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 10 ounces boneless beef short ribs
- ½ beaten egg
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup soft bread crumbs
- ¼ cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (Optional)
- ⅓ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (Optional)
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
- ⅓ cup pastina (tiny star-shaped pasta) or other tiny pasta
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper to taste (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (Optional)
Instructions
- Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large, heavy pot over high heat; brown beef shank slice in hot oil until seared and browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Add onion, carrot, celery, water, bay leaf, 3 cloves peeled garlic, and black peppercorns; bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat falls off the bone and stock turns brown in color, 4 to 5 hours. Add more water if beef stock level gets below about 5 cups.
- Place beef short ribs into freezer until firm and very cold, about 15 minutes. Cut meat into cubes and return to freezer until almost frozen, about 30 more minutes.
- Whisk egg with parsley, 2 cloves garlic, and cream in a bowl. Stir in bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
- Place partially-frozen beef cubes into food processor and pulse with with 1/3 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper until beef is coarsely ground, 5 to 10 pulses. Pulse in bread crumb mixture until mixture is finely ground, about 5 more pulses. Transfer meat to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
- Strain beef stock into a large soup pot, discarding beef and vegetables. Mix chicken broth into beef stock and whisk in tomato paste. Bring broth mixture to a simmer and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Stir kale into broth; simmer kale until tender, about 15 minutes.
- Scoop 2-teaspoon portions of the meat mixture and roll into meatballs.
- Pour pastina into the simmering soup, cook for 5 minutes, and gently add meatballs. Simmer until meatballs are cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Serve in bowls garnished with a pinch of black pepper or a sprinkle of shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
- To make fresh bread crumbs, cut crusts from fresh Italian bread, cut bread into cubes, and process in a food processor into fine crumbs, 10 to 30 seconds.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 214 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 47 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 713 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Made this soup tonight… I have been aspiring to become more adept at soups the last few years, so tonight I made it a point to make this one, and – Oh, boy! – am I glad I did. Another reviewer said it was one of the most labor-intensive IWS they’ve ever made, and I agree, so I just used loose, mild Italian sausage, and used the other ingredients to make the meatballs. The broth is delightful (I cut back on the amount of water considering I used store-bought chicken and low-sodium beef broth)… but this soup was a HIT! The hubs gave it a thumbs up and is taking a container for lunch tomorrow!!
Fantastic, could not get beef ribs with or without bones, had to use chuck steak, all else same as recipe.
Not much to improve upon this. Just wanted to make a minor correction (or enhancement to the Chef’s comment about origin of soup). It has little to do with being served at Italian weddings, which I know it is served at many of them, but the names you this dish is due to all of the ingredients being “married” together for the wonderful texture and taste. Wanted to add that factoid to clear up his comment so folks don’t think the name came from actual Italian weddings.
I tasted this once when someone else made it and it was magnificent … mine turned out okay but not as memorable as theirs … not to worry though in time I’m sure i’ll eventually reach perfection… overall it was great though!
Next time I make this recipe I will triple it, worth the effort.
I used less salt.
A lot of ingredients but definitely worth it! Great taste and wonderful for cold winter nights! I used different pasta and spinach instead of kale. Will make again! Thanks Chef John!
needs lots of garlic
“Stupid inertia!” Haha! Chef John, you are so funny – as well as a great chef with great teaching style. This soup is fantastic!
This is probably the fussiest and most labor intensive Italian-American Wedding Soup that you will ever make. It also is one of the very best if you use really good chicken stock (preferably homemade)and the beef with bones as recommended. The compound stock is very silky do to the gelatin and has outstanding flavor with the other ingredients providing a perfect harmony of taste and texture. If making this I strongly suggest quadrupling the stock and freezing it as I guarantee that you will find other uses for it. My Grandma Li has always made compound stocks but usually uses pork instead of beef . So when she tried her hand at the recipe she made hers with pork instead of beef which is also great but we like the Chef John’s original version best – Brandon, the Twins, Pops, and Aunt Gina BTW – This deserves much more than 5 Stars but that is all we could give it.
Made this for our annual neighborhood “Soupzilla” competition…(.tied for first place). Meatballs are a little time consuming, but well worth it. Followed the recipe exactly; just found that I like it a little saltier, which was easily fixed! Will definitely keep this on my favorites list.
This was so tasty! And I will use the meatball portion of this recipe next time I make meatballs– these were the best I’ve ever had!
Delicious. Made this tonight and it is so tasty. I had lots of greens in frig so used one 10 oz packages of Kale and 1 pkg Southern Greens from Trader Joe’s with eggs, heavy whipping cream and bread. Made meatballs with 1 pound ground beef and one pound ground pork gently turning with a wooden spoon to incorporate. Now don’t get mad at me Purists, but had to also use Herbs de Provence because because my Anise had walked away and I thought Herbs de Provence would do fine in the meatballs. Baked meatballs and added just before I served. Couldn’t find Pastina at the fancy grocery store where I bought the Beef Shank but they did have tiny Italian pasta Alphabet things so added those. Strongly recommend using baking sheet for meatballs-used Foil and it was a mess until I rescued the meatballs to a baking pan. Since I am the only one here who loves pasta, now I have lots of meatballs for pasta which I will make and enjoy in secret.
Chef John, I have not made this yet….I definitely want to try it, but I was wondering, why do you not just use ground beef instead of using a food processor to grind it?
This recipe sounds delicious Chef John, and I’m dying to make it, but I believe you’re missing an ingredient…the meat for the meatballs!! This is my 10 year old son’s favorite soup and he’s patiently awaiting your response!! 😉