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Italian Wedding Soup

A broth-based soup with meatballs, vegetables, spinach, and orzo, seasoned with herbs and lemon.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Bring the broth to a boil while preparing the vegetables.

  2. Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, seasonings, and lemon juice, leaving the salt for later.

  3. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat and cook until the carrots are very tender.

  4. Add salt to taste.

Finish the soup

  1. Squeeze the thawed spinach gently to remove excess liquid, then add it with the pasta.

  2. Bring the soup back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

  3. Add the meatballs and simmer gently until the pasta is well cooked and the meatballs are hot.

  4. Serve with crusty bread and, if desired, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

755Calories
70 gProtein
21 gFat
70 gCarbs

Counts 15 of 16 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Chicken100g cooked165
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatballnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + basiltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Beef + chickentop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,148 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Clove + basiltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef meatballs
Provide the main protein, staying tender when simmered gently in the broth.
Orzo pasta
Adds starch and body to the broth as it cooks through.
Spinach
Adds color and soft, leafy texture once squeezed of excess liquid.
Carrots
Add sweetness and softness as they cook until very tender.
Onion
Builds savory depth as it softens into the broth.

The step that matters

Squeezing the thawed spinach. Excess water left in thawed spinach dilutes the broth and makes the soup watery, so the spinach should be squeezed gently before it goes in.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, chicken, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, basil):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, chicken, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, basil. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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