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Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs

There are endless variations on Italian Wedding Soups, but the main elements are meatballs and greens.  The name indicates that the soup might be served at an Italian wedding, it is actually a mistranslation of minestra maritata, which refers to the "marriage" of greens and meat in the soup. I actually didn't know that until…

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Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs

Why it works: Beef and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. The science ↓

Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs

6 servings
Prep30 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1402Calories
116 gProtein
61 gFat
88 gCarbs

Counts 20 of 24 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 20 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Pork100g cooked242
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Chicken100g cooked165
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Bread1 slice (30g) white79
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatballnot in our table0
Soupnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Beannot 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.

By delishhh. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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. Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,690 recipes

    Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Parsley + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Swap the oregano

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, beef, pork, bread, parsley, garlic, pepper):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Sagefits better
  4. Oreganothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, beef, pork, bread, parsley, garlic, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.