It is so exciting that spring has arrived in Minnesota, I’ve doubled the size of my vegetable garden this year and started dozens of vegetables in early spring in the house. Now it’s time to put them out into the garden. They are all still young plants, many weeks away from harvest. But I am anticipating a bountiful harvest, so I need to use up what I canned, dried and froze from last year’s harvest to make room for this year’s produce. 

Spring is also the season for weddings, which makes my mind wander to Italian Wedding soup, which I love. Myth buster: it’s not called Italian Wedding soup because it’s served at Italian weddings, it’s called wedding soup because the flavors in it marry so well together! Usually, this soup takes a long time to make because it traditionally has tons of tiny little meatballs. Instead, I season ground chicken with lots of herbs and spices and then brown it. You get all the same flavors and textures without all the work. 

This soup is made silky and rich by the eggs stirred in at the end that cook into yummy wisps. 

I serve this soup with my homemade apple butter spread on my sour dough bread, with a glass of my homemade apple juice. I got a fruit steamer last fall and steamed my apples to get a fresh, sugar free, juice. Then I pressure canned the quarts of juice. We’ve been enjoying it all winter long and have just finished our last quart. The recipe for the apple butter makes very good use of the apple chunks that I had frozen last fall and is quick to make using a blender.

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients:

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 lb. ground chicken or turkey

1 medium onion

¼ cup dried parsley

1 T. dried basil

1 T. dried oregano

2 tsp. smoked paprika1

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Crushed red pepper flakes

Fine pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 medium carrots, chopped (fresh or frozen)

4 celery stalks, chopped

2 T. finely chopped garlic

8 cups chicken broth

6 cups spinach (fresh or frozen)

10 ounces cheese tortellini

2 T. lemon juice

2 large eggs

Process:

1. In a large pot combine the olive oil, chicken, onion, parsley, basil, oregano, paprika, ¼ cup of the Parmesan and a pinch each of red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Place pot over medium-high heat and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until the meat is browned and the onion is soft and translucent, 5-8 minutes.

2. Add the carrots, celery and garlic. Cook stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, 5 minutes. Add the broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the flavors are married, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the spinach, tortellini, and lemon juice. Cook until the tortellini are al dente, 5 minutes more.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan. Slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the broth, stirring the soup constantly and gently to form thin strands of cooked egg, about 30 seconds.

4. Ladle into bowls and serve, topped with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Maple Apple Butter

Ingredients:

10 cups chopped apples, fresh or frozen

1 ¼ cups apple juice (or apple cider if you don’t have fresh juice)

½ cup pure maple syrup, plus more as needed

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

Pinch of fine pink Himalayan salt

Process:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a blender, working in batches as needed, combine the apples with the apple juice/cider and blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Add the maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt and stir to combine. Roast for 30-35 minutes. Give the apple butter a stir and reduce the oven temperature to 350. Continue roasting, stirring every 30 minutes, for 1 to 1 ½ hours more until the apple butter is thick and golden brown. Taste and add more maple syrup as needed. Discard the cinnamon sticks, if using. 

Let the apple butter cool. Store refrigerated in airtight glass jars for up to 1 month.  I also use this apple butter to make Chai Donuts, but you will have to wait until next month for that recipe!

Photo Credits: Joy Johnson (1-3)