Growing up I worked at the same restaurant for 10 years. I was a hostess, then went to working in the pizza kitchen, waitressing & then bartending. Y ou can say I’ve been invested in the “food” industry for a long time. We would have daily soups & ones that were interchanged throughout the fall/winter months.
That is where Italian Wedding soup comes to play! That was one of my favorites & so when thinking of new soup recipes to bring to you guys I thought why not re create it! I feel like this is a soup that you don’t hear of as much, but is seriously so stinking delicious. I am telling you, you will be SO happy you made this & I think this will for sure be giving my Healthy Tortellini soup a run for it’s money.
There are so many things I love about soups like this:
- Easy to make!
- Large quantities for ready to go dinners or lunches throughout the week
- HGHF soups are healthy & delicious. When needing to fuel your body this Fall & Winter, I got the health aspect covered for ya!
- I feel like there always has to be ONE soup someone likes… like you can’t just hate soup right?
Is Couscous Healthy?
It is a great choice of carbohydrates actually!
▪️low-in-fat
▪️low-in-calories
▪️a slow-release carbohydrate— which means it takes longer to release energy in the body. That will keep you fuller longer.
PLUS The mix of garlic & leeks + the other veggies, makes for the perfect healthy combo
Healthy and Cozy Italian Wedding Soup
Equipment
- 6-8 qt stock pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Italian chicken sausage
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesean
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp ground parsley
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp ground oregano
- 1 large leek- thinly sliced in rings white only, so make sure you choose a large leek with a big white portion
- 6 celery stalks diced
- 5 carrots diced [I LOVE the multi colored carrots it provides slightly different taste than just regular orange carrots & provides “duller” winter dishes with a little pop of color yellow, orange & purple color 🙂 ]
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 48 oz Chicken Broth
- 1 32 oz Chicken Broth
- 1 cup uncooked couscous
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a medium sized bowl add the Italian chicken sausage meat. PRO TIP: Have the butcher take the Italian chicken sausage OUT of the casing so it is 10X easier for you & immediately you can start forming the meatballs. Then add in the bread crumbs, grated Parmesan & egg. Mix until throughly combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Then add 1/2 tsp salt & pepper, mix throughly again.
- Next line baking sheet with parchment paper or use Silpat (which is my preference!) Then start making your meatballs. It will make about 70, 1/2 tbsp meatballs. Then place in oven for 10 minutes.
- While meatballs start cooking, you will start on the soup! In a 6-8 qt stock pot on medium heat (my favorite linked here) add in 2 tbsp of olive oil, 3 garlic cloves minced & thinly sliced leek. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Continuing to stir so they don’t get stuck to the pot. Then add in the diced carrots & celery. Cook down for another 2 to 3 minutes. Then add in 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp parsley & 1 tsp oregano, dash of salt & pepper. Mix together & cook for 2 more minutes.
- Next add in all the chicken broth to the stock pot & bring to a a boil. Once it is brought to a boil, add in the 1 cup of dried couscous, rest of the parsley, onion & oregano. still well & bring down to a simmer for 15 minutes.
- Once the simmer is up on the meatballs. Take them out of the oven & set on stove until the 15 minutes of simmer time is up. Then add the meatballs to the stock pot & stir until full combined. Then add in the cayenne pepper & mix throughly again. Let simmer for an hour.
- Lastly, serve in a bowl with a tasty buttery baguette or large house salad! I will say the soup is even BETTER the next day after the couscous has time to soak even more. I didn’t think that was possible, but it is. This is one of my families new favorites & I really could not wait to share this with you! ENJOY!
I can’t wait to try this! I’ve made something similar with beef meatballs but I bet the chicken is much lighter and tastier. Couscous! Who knew?!
Oh yay!!! Thank you! So excited for you to try it! Hahah right? Couscous being magical here! 🙂