Let's Eat: Simple "Scharole" Soup with Mini Meatballs
Make it hearty, or make it light, but don't sleep on this delicious and easy to make greens-based soup.
Every year, on the first Saturday in November, my mother’s side of the family gathers for what is affectionately called “Ravioli Day”. On Ravioli Day, we make raviolis. A lot of raviolis.
This tradition started about twelve or thirteen years ago when the place we got our Thanksgiving raviolis went out of business, or stopped making them, or somehow permanently ran out of 00 flour. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but one year they became unavailable, and panic ensued. The first year I think we made four dozen. This year we made over 300.
Now, you may or may not normally have raviolis on Thanksgiving, but my Italian side of the family doesn’t just want, they need their raviolis on Thanksgiving. A year without the raviolis would seem like “the year without a Santa Claus” for a ten-year-old. So, after an unsuccessful search that year for the perfect replacement, someone (I am not sure who) suggested we make our own, and a new tradition was born.
Our Thanksgivings, like many others I’m sure, starts around 2. First, an antipasto platter and soup course (I guess now we call it a charcuterie board). We don’t separate it into two courses, because if we did, we’d still be sitting the dinner table on Friday. Then, usually around 3:30 the raviolis are served, followed by the main meal: a roasted turkey, a fried turkey, stuffing, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, corn, two gravies, and broccoli casserole that graces the table around 5:30.
I’m not going to mention the desserts and the prosecco because my stomach is beginning to bloat just typing these sentences.
But what tends to get lost in all this gluttony is the simple, yet delicious soup that accompanies the antipasto board (see what I did there?) and fails to score its own course: escarole soup.
Escarole soup, or scharole* as it’s referred to is a simple and traditional Italian soup that can be kept light, heartied up, made with less than six ingredients in twenty minutes, or veggified and slow-cooked over hours on the stove or in a crock pot. It can be made vegan, veg, or omni, low carb, and low fat. There are so many ways to customize this soup you’re bound to find one that you fall in love with, but the basic, simplest combination is the melding of sautéed escarole greens and broth. Our particular combination always includes the delightful addition of mini meatballs**, which are included in recipe below.
So, move over raviolis, there’s a new course in town…
Ingredients:
2 large heads of escarole, rinsed of grit and chopped
1 to 1 1/2 quart chicken or vegetable stock
2 minced garlic cloves or half a teaspoon garlic powder (to taste)
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for sprinkling on top
1 pound ground beef**
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Steps
Mix your ground beef with a teaspoon each of salt and pepper (or to your taste).
Roll your meatballs into small balls - about 3/4” wide.
Chop your escarole into strips or pieces and rinse well in cold water to ensure all the grit is cleaned off. Run through a salad spinner or shake well to remove any excess water.
In a deep pot (stock, dutch oven, or the like) add the olive oil and the garlic.
Sauté the escarole and the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat for approximately fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. The escarole will begin wilt and release its moisture. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
When the escarole has fully wilted, add the chicken stock to the pot and lower the heat to medium-low.
When the soup come to a slow boil (not a rolling boil), add the meatballs. Be careful not to splash the hot broth.
Let the soup simmer for 45-minutes to an hour. The longer it simmers, the deeper the flavor. You may want to skim some of the fat released by the meatballs.
Serve with a sprinkle of grated cheese and enjoy!
Fun ways to customize your soup:
**Mini meatballs can made of ground beef, chicken, sausage or the traditional meatball trio mix of ground beef, pork, and veal. They can be baked, fried, or dropped right into the soup to cook in the broth***.
Adding pasta; the result is similar to Italian wedding soup.
Adding beans; white beans are an especially delicious and healthy addition.
Adding cubed parm reg cheese rinds add depth of flavor and the rinds get all melty and delicious.
Adding other veggies like carrots, onions, or spinach.
You’re only limited by your imagination. The great fun of cooking any broth-based soup is that you can make it a new way each time, and is a great way to use up extra veggies in your crisper.
* pronounced (sh kah role) or maybe it’s skat-ole. 🇮🇹
*** There are different schools of thought about how the meatballs should be prepared. Some simply season the ground beef with salt and pepper and roll, some use a more traditional meatball preparation for the ground beef and then roll. You can also do a quick pan-fry to get some color on the meatballs and then add them to the soup. Be careful, though. The meatballs are small, and you don’t want them to dry out.
© 2023 Kim Selby. All rights reserved.
All photography © Kim Selby unless otherwise credited.