Weekend Italian Wedding Soup

Directions

1. Cut one half of the onion in half, you should have 2 large wedges; transfer to a large heavy pot or Dutch oven. Cut 2 carrots and 3 celery stalks in half crosswise and transfer to pot with onion. Add whole garlic, chicken breasts, bay leaves, peppercorn, thyme, oregano, 6 cups water, and chicken stock to the pot and bring to a boil, cover and reduce to low, and cook until the chicken is cooked through and tender, 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate to cool; shred chicken, discard the skin and bones and set aside until ready to use. Continue to simmer stock covered until the vegetables are tender, 15 minutes more. Strain stock and set aside until ready to use; discard solids and wipe pot clean.
2. Meanwhile, make the meatballs. Whisk the panko, parmesan, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper in a medium bowl until combined. Stir in the cream, half of grated garlic, and egg until completely combined.
3. Transfer the pork to a large bowl. Pull the ground pork apart with two forks as if you were shredding pulled pork, breaking up the clumps without compacting until very loose. Pour the cream mixture into the meat and use the same pulling technique to mix until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Scoop out portions of the meat mixture with a 1 ounce ice cream scoop or use two heaping tablespoons of meat mixture. Lightly oil your hands and roll the meat gently between your hands into balls. Arrange the balls on a rimmed baking sheet. You should have about 24. Cover and chill until ready to use.
4. Cut remaining onion, carrot and celery into ½ inch pieces and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in same large pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook, turning and rolling occasionally, until they are lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total; remove to a plate. The meatballs will not be cooked through, just browned on the outside. Repeat with the remaining meatballs; remove them to the plate as well.
5. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion, carrots, celery, and remaining grated garlic; season with 1 tablespoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits, until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and cook until it's almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add reserved stock and bring to a boil, reduce to low and simmer until vegetables are just tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Add meatballs and pasta and cook until cooked through, 10 minutes. Stir in spinach and reserved chicken and continue cooking until spinach is wilted and tender, 5 minutes; season with salt. Serve topped with parsley, grated parmesan, freshly ground black pepper, and olive oil.