By Susan MYKRANTZ

 Cold, gloomy January days can be good days for soup. And the cool thing about stirring up a batch of soup is if you have leftovers, it makes a quick lunch when you are cold and hungry. Just add a salad and crusty bread. Enjoy and until next time, simply cook.

My dad liked an occasional bowl of wedding soup, usually if he could find it on a restaurant menu. My mom wasn’t a big fan of wedding soup, so wedding soup wasn’t a regular item in mom’s line-up of soup recipes. Still, mom had a couple of wedding soup recipes in her files, so she did make it on occasion. Contrary to legend, wedding soup is not traditionally served at weddings. Instead it got its name from the marriage of flavors from meat and vegetables. 

Swiss Cheeseburger Soup

½ pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup chopped green pepper

½ cup flour

6 bouillon cubes

1-quart stewed tomatoes

In a dutch oven, brown ground beef, add onion and green pepper. Saute vegetables until tender. Add tomatoes and bouillon cubes. Gradually stir in flour. Cook the stew until it thickens. Add 1 cup shredded Swiss Cheese. Pass extra shredded cheese.

Swiss Potato Soup

1 large onion, chopped

3 tablespoons butter

3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 teaspoon salt

¼ dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 cups water 

2 cups milk

8 ounces Swiss Cheese, sliced and cut up

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Saute onion in melted butter in a dutch oven. Add potatoes, salt, pepper, mustard, and water.  Bring potatoes and seasoning to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Press through a fine sieve into a large bowl, and return to the dutch oven. Stir in milk and heat until just bubbly. Stir in cheese until melted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with parsley. You can also chill for several hours and serve cold. Garnish with parsley. Makes 8 servings. 

Wedding Soup

1 stewing chicken, cut up

2 ½ cups water, per pound of chicken

5 carrots, peeled and chopped

6 stalks of celery, finely chopped

6 sprigs of parsley, chopped

Cook the stewing chicken in a pressure cooker at 15 pounds of pressure for 45 minutes. Finish on top of the stove until the chicken is done. 

Meatballs for soup

1 pound lean ground beef

1 teaspoon parsley

3 slices of bread, broken in small pieces

3 eggs

3 teaspoons parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix meatball ingredients together. Oil hands and shape the meat mixture into small meatballs. Put the meatballs on a greased cookie sheet and put the pan in a preheated 375-degree oven for 3 to 5 minutes or until the meatballs turned white. When the broth soup is ready, add a few meatballs in each bowl, before serving the soup. 

Italian Wedding Soup with Meatballs and Spinach

Meatballs

½ pound ground beef

½ pound ground pork

¼ cup bread crumbs

1 egg

½ clove minced garlic

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

½ teaspoon paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Soup

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups chopped spinach

¼ cup Pecorino or Romano cheese

Orzo (optional)

Combine ground meat, bread crumbs, egg, parsley, minced garlic, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Mix well with a fork and form the meat mixture into tiny meatballs, about the size of a penny. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes until brown. About 10 minutes before serving, bring the chicken broth to the boil, add spinach and cook until tender.  Add meatballs and orzo and cook until tender. Add meatballs and return soup to a simmer. Stir in cheese and serve.  (Option 2-saute meatballs in olive oil until brown. Option 3-bring chicken stock to a low boil, add the uncooked meatballs to the broth and simmer for about 25 minutes. Add spinach, cook until tender, stir in cheese and serve.)