[vegan] Italian Wedding Soup

I am so excited to share this recipe with you, Collective! I literally just made it about 20 minutes ago, scarfed down two helpings, and am now getting ready to share the recipe tomorrow!

Lately, I haven't been feeling myself. In honor of #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, I thought I'd share. I've been open about this before on previous posts like this one, ["What is Kratom? and Why does it need your help?]. I've been diagnosed and suffer from a few different disorders like generalized anxiety disorder, dysthymia, and numerous eating disorders some which make it difficult to roll out of bed - a task that has been extra-difficult the past few months. Normally, I enjoy dancing in my kitchen and creating recipes for fun. However, I have found that desire to be small and at times, non-existent (along with other tasks). I always found creating alone in my kitchen to be restorative and challenging. It allowed me to forget everything that was bothering me and focus on one task. Today, I finally had an urge to cook. Not like whip up something fast, but to create. My mind guided me to a recipe that reminds me of my Grandma (Nonna Dee). She used to give me Italian Wedding Soup as a kid and I adored it, along with her speaking Italian from her recliner. I honestly can't remember if she ever had made it for me homemade or not, but nevertheless I loved it!

This soup is well-known for it's savory broth, tender meatballs and al dente acini di pepe. Since the broth and protein of this dish are inherently non-vegan, I decided to give it a go. My best recipes come from "winging it". I am terrible at following recipes, and they rarely turn out well when I follow them (too much improvisation on my part). So, I just started cooking.

The key to this soup is making a good broth. I recommend using a "No-Chicken" vegan bouillon. I like these two:

However, if you can't find a No-Chicken bouillon this one will work too (you'll just have to season it up a little bit more):

I have been lucky and can find any of these at my local grocers (including Wal-Mart). But, if you can't find any of these, you can use a vegetable broth but the flavor profile won't mimic the "original" non-vegan version as closely.

For the meatballs you can check out this recipe [vegan Italian Style Meatballz]. NOTE: For this soup, I omitted the fresh garlic and onion in the meatballs and added a bit more garlic and onion powder, so they would hold up better in the soup. If you would still like to incorporate the fresh garlic and onion, I suggest pulsing them through a food processor instead of just dicing it up (I probably would have done this had I thought of it while cooking 😂).

Important Tip! If you are struggling to find acini di pepe noodles (like me) you can use pearled couscous in its place. It is just as delicious. Cook it according to the package instructions, once finished put it in a strainer and rinse throughly with cold water. Set aside in a bowl until it's time to put it in the soup!

Disclaimer: One thing to note - I cook like Ms Tabitha Brown (from the soul), I do not measure, so my recipes are my best recollection. Please feel free to put more or less of anything listed here to make it your own!

[vegan] Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients:

• [vegan Italian Style Meatballs], rolled into very small balls*

• 8 cups of no chicken broth, (or alternative listed above)

• 1 cup uncooked acini de pepe (or pearled couscous, cooked by package instructions)

• 5-6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

• 2 carrots, diced small

• 2-3 celery stalks, diced small

• 1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped

• 2 cups spinach, roughly chopped

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

• 1-2 teaspoons Nutritional Yeast

• garlic powder, (to taste)

• onion powder, (to taste)

• salt/pepper, (to taste)

*Omit the fresh garlic and onion and replace with a bit more garlic/onion powder, unless you are able to run the garlic and onion through a food processor first, this will ensure the meatballs hold together better.

Procedures:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare meatballs according to the above recipe, roll into small bite size balls. Bake until cooked through and set aside.

2. While the meatballs cook, prepare your acini de pepe or pearled couscous according to the package instructions. Once al dente, rise through a strainer with cold water and set aside.

3. For the soup base, mix together your bouillon base with the appropriate amount of water (sometimes I add a bit more bouillon than it calls for, to give it a deeper flavor - but this add more sodium so be cautious). Set aside. Chop up all your vegetables and set aside.

4. Heat a deep pot on medium-high heat with the olive oil. Once hot, add in your garlic. Sauté for 1-2 minutes and then add in the onion. Sauté until translucent.

5. Add in the celery and carrot, sauté 3-5 minutes.

6. Stir in broth and add all spices. Bring to a boil and then simmer until vegetables are tender.

7. Add in spinach, pasta, and cooked meatballs. Heat through, 1-2 minutes.

8. Serve and enjoy! Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper.