Italian Wedding Soup - Oh My!

It has been fuuureeezzing this past week in Sydney, and now the stormy weather really has hit.
I came across the term Italian Wedding Soup and I was like, hold on... what...is...this? :D

You may have read about my love for all things Italian here, and there is no denying I love all things wedding related as well. Two of my favourite words in a recipe title... how could I resist?

I followed Ina Garten's recipe here, but before I did, I asked an Italian-Aussie friend at work whether she had a family recipe and she asked me what Italian Wedding Soup even was haha! From my very quick research, it seems this kind of soup would exist in any family with Italian roots... but perhaps made popular by the Italian-Americans. A slight mis-translation of the word "marriage" to the word "wedding", turned this favourite to be termed "Italian Wedding Soup". Either way, the marriage of Meat and Vegetables is beautiful and warming, and deeeelish :)

I used Endive (an Italian lettuce) instead of the baby spinach, and by chance, I found chicken sausage that was flavoured Roast Garlic and Cheese. So if you want, and if you can find the sausage flavour, I think you could skip the minced garlic and pecorino and parmesan cheese part of the recipe. I still added it in though, for an extra flavour boost.

But you know what, alter the recipe as much as you like I think, shredded Roast chicken would go just as well... and how about alfabeto pasta instead of stars? The kiddies will love it!

We've had this soup re-heated with dinner, three nights in a row now. And I'm surprised that Jase still prompts it as a dinner addition each night as soup is normally MY push! Garnish with either some parmesan cheese, cracked pepper and/or chilli flakes, or simply have it on its own. Either way, this is PERFECT for winter chilly nights...or an alternative to a packed lunch :)

X
p.s. Hey guys, I'm over the moon that MLP has hit over 200 likes. I literally blinked my eyes and within a day, BAM! I'm pretty sure it was additionally spurred from the lovely shout out by Rachael over at Made From Scratch (check out her blog....it's BEEEAUTIFUL!), but I'm so surprised at all this support and its reassuring that you all enjoy my posts as much as I like posting. Thanks peeps from the bottom of my wee heart :)