My Aunt’s Chicken Meatball Soup

Ingredients (~8 servings)

• ~3 lbs whole chicken (roasting or stewing chicken works better than young chicken)
• ~10 cups water (enough to cover chicken in pot)
• 3/4 lb carrots, peeled with ends trimmed
• 3 celery stalks, rinsed clean
• 1 large sweet yellow onion, peeled and sliced
• Small handful fresh parsley, stems removed
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 large basil leaves (or 3/4 tsp dried basil)
• 1 1/2 tbsp peppercorns
• 1 1/2 tsp salt (plus more as needed)
• 2 whole peeled tomatoes from can, drained and broken up by hand
• 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 3 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving)
• 3 tbsp plain bread crumbs
• 3/4 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup soup broth
• 1 lb small shells or any small pasta

 

Make the Chicken Soup Base

Remove any giblets from the chicken cavity and toss them. Put the chicken in an 8-quart stock pot and cover with water by a couple inches.

Cook on high heat, uncovered; As scum rises to the top, spoon it off and discard it. This takes about 30 minutes and the broth will look cleaner when you’re done.

While you’re skimming, prep your vegetables – peel and trim the carrots but leave them whole, rinse the celery, slice the onion, and clean the parsley.

Once the scum stops forming, add all the vegetables, herbs, peppercorns, salt, and broken-up tomatoes. Cover and cook for 4 hours if using a roasting chicken, or 3 hours for a young chicken.

Start on high heat, then lower after it comes to a boil.

Strain and Prep the Chicken

After the soup has cooked, transfer the chicken to a platter and let it cool enough to handle.

Pour the soup through a large fine-mesh strainer into another pot; The vegetables will be mushy but you can save the carrots if you want to add them back to the soup later.

Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and discard them. Shred the meat finely with two forks – you should have about 1 1/4 lbs of shredded chicken.

Make the Chicken Meatballs

In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken with both cheeses, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, dried basil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and eggs.

Add the soup broth one ladle (~1/2 cup) at a time, mixing with your hands until the mixture is moist but not soggy. You might not need all the broth.

Taste a small pinch of the mixture and adjust salt, pepper, or Parmesan as needed.

Roll into 1-inch balls and place on sheet pans in a single layer. They’ll expand when they cook, so keep them small.

The meatballs can sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours or be refrigerated overnight.

Cook the Meatballs

Set up your stove with multiple pots: one large pot with the hot soup (no heat), one pot for cooking pasta later, a shallow pan with sides for cooking meatballs, and one pot half-filled with soup broth to hold finished meatballs.

In the shallow pan, bring 2 cups soup broth and 2 cups water to a boil. Add as many meatballs as fit in a single layer.

Gently boil for 5-6 minutes; The meatballs will float to the top when done. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to your holding pot.

Continue cooking in batches, adding more water and soup to the pan as needed.

Cook the Pasta and Serve

When ready to serve, heat the pasta pot on high and put low heat under the meatball and soup pots.

Add pasta to the boiling soup and cook until al dente – don’t drain it.

To serve, put some pasta in each bowl, add 6 meatballs, and ladle broth over the top. Pass extra Parmesan at the table.

Store soup, pasta, and meatballs separately in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The soup and cooked meatballs freeze for up to 3 months.