Referring to the ‘marriage’ of meats and vegetables in this rustic broth, chef Giuseppe D’Aquino brings a traditional Italian wedding soup into the modern kitchen with chicken tortelli pasta and vibrant Swiss chard. A dusting of gold leaf is optional, although does make this truly special.

Italian wedding soup with chicken tortelli

 

Cooking time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

WEDDING SOUP

  • 1 chicken, small, portioned on the bone
  • 500g of braising beef, diced
  • 200g of pork shoulder, diced
  • 1 pork sausage, chopped
  • 50g of salami, preferably Neopolitan
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, chopped
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • freshly ground black pepper

TORTELLI FILLING

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 50g of grated Parmesan
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

PASTA

  • 700g of 00 flour
  • 300g of semolina flour
  • 10 eggs, 5 whole and 5 yolks only

TO SERVE

  • 100g of Swiss chard
  • 20g of mortadella, cut into julienne

 

METHOD

1. Add the meats and vegetables for the wedding soup to a large pan or stock pot with a good grinding of black pepper and cover with water. Place on a high heat and bring to the boil, skimming away any scum that appears on the surface
  • 1 chicken, small, portioned on the bone
  • 500g of braising beef, diced
  • 200g of pork shoulder, diced
  • 1 pork sausage, chopped
  • 50g of salami, preferably Neopolitan
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, chopped
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • freshly ground black pepper
2. Simmer for 1 hour, then carefully strain through a fine sieve into a clean pan, reserving the chicken (the other meats and vegetables can be discarded or added to another soup or stew). Allow the soup to cool, skim any fat from the surface and set aside until ready to serve
3. Shred the chicken meat from the bones and weigh out 300g. Mix in a bowl with the egg yolk and grated Parmesan for the tortelli filling. Season well with salt and pepper then chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up slightly
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 50g of grated Parmesan
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
4. To make the pasta, place all of the dough ingredients into a mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix until combined. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes
  • 700g of 00 flour
  • 300g of semolina flour
  • 10 eggs, 5 whole and 5 yolks only
5. Using a pasta machine, roll out the dough to a thickness of 4mm and cut out discs with a 7cm cutter. Add 1 tsp of the chilled chicken filling to the centre of each disc.
6. Fold the disc in half covering the filling and press the edges together to seal, then bring the opposite edges of the pasta together and pinch the tips together. Repeat with all the pasta and filling.
7. To serve, reheat the wedding soup over a medium heat. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, blanch the Swiss chard for 3 minutes then drain. In a separate pan of boiling water, add the tortelli and cook for 3 minutes then drain
  • 100g of Swiss chard
8. Arrange mounds of the Swiss chard in serving bowls and top with a few tortelli and some of the sliced mortadella. Pour a little of the wedding soup around the chard in each bowl to serve
  • 20g of mortadella, cut into julienne

Source: https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/chicken-tortelli-italian-wedding-soup-recipe

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