Although this is a business oriented blog, I did get a request for our family’s Wedding Soup recipe.\u00a0 This recently came up as the best way I could think of to get rid of a cold or flu.\u00a0 Which of course, the faster you can get better, the better it will be for your business!<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————-<\/p>\n
Dear Reader,<\/p>\n
As far as we know this is also the first time the “official” Rufo Wedding Soup recipe has been put to paper.\u00a0 This recipe was acquired through watching the Rufo women cook the recipe.\u00a0 It was handed down by word-of-mouth and never committed to paper until now.\u00a0 We encourage you to read through steps, whether you ever decide to make the soup or not.\u00a0 We of course included our own commentary…<\/p>\n
We hope you enjoy the soup.\u00a0 Traditionally, it was made for special occasions or people.<\/p>\n
The Jim & Samantha Rufo Wedding Soup, Secret Recipe Soup Ingredients<\/span> 6-8 chicken breasts, with bones and skin<\/p>\n 2 cups celery, chopped<\/p>\n 2 cups carrots, peeled & chopped<\/p>\n 7-8 good sized bunches of escarole<\/p>\n 1 large yellow onion, whole<\/p>\n 1 cup uncooked Acine di Pepe pasta (very tiny)<\/p>\n Meatball ingredients<\/span><\/p>\n 1 pound of ground chuck<\/p>\n 1 pound of ground pork<\/p>\n 1 pound of ground veal<\/p>\n 9 unpeeled garlic cloves<\/p>\n \u00be cup grated Parmesan cheese (Please no green cans!\u00a0 Only fresh stuff for this recipe)<\/p>\n 27 saltine crackers, crushed fine<\/p>\n 1 \u00bd Heaping tsp of salt<\/p>\n \u00be tsp freshly ground black pepper<\/p>\n \u00be tsp dried oregano (Preferably from your garden)<\/p>\n 1 \u00bd tsp dried basil<\/p>\n 3 Tbl chopped fresh parsley or \u00be tsp dried<\/p>\n \u00be cup water<\/p>\n 3 eggs<\/p>\n 3 tsp tomato paste<\/p>\n Lots of Love*<\/p>\n Cookware<\/span><\/p>\n Cheesecloth<\/p>\n 2 Large Soup pots<\/p>\n 2 baking sheets<\/p>\n 3 large mixing bowls<\/p>\n 2 small mixing bowls<\/p>\n 1 slotted spoon<\/p>\n Large colander<\/p>\n Measuring cup & spoons<\/p>\n Storage containers<\/p>\n Tip: Make the meatballs prior to the soup.\u00a0 This is one of the more time consuming steps.<\/p>\n Step 1. <\/span><\/p>\n A) Heat a small skillet over medium heat.\u00a0 Add the unpeeled garlic and toast for approximately 5 minutes or until the skins have brown spots.<\/p>\n In the meanwhile start the next step.<\/p>\n B) Measure out all the meatball ingredients for easier assemblage.\u00a0 After you get the crackers together, and measure out the spices, the garlic should be ready to remove from the stove.\u00a0 Take the garlic off the heat, peel, mince, and set aside.<\/p>\n At this point, some people might question the use of crackers in the meatballs.\u00a0 All must realize that this recipe has evolved from several years of serious study and reflection both at home and abroad.\u00a0 Jim has even roughed up a few Italian grandmothers for their secrets.\u00a0 Our goal of the foolproof meatball, that was tender but wonderful, only came about through this recipe.\u00a0 Why do you ask?<\/p>\n C) Heat the oven to 375 degrees.\u00a0 In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, cheese, garlic, and spices.\u00a0 Mix gently with your fingers.\u00a0 Make sure there are no clumps of garlic. Set aside.<\/p>\n D) In another large bowl, combine the three meats.\u00a0 Using your hands works the best.\u00a0 At this stage two people work well together.\u00a0 One to get their hands dirty and the other to add the ingredients.<\/p>\n E) Now add the crumb mixture to the meat mixture.\u00a0 It will be a bit dry, but keep mixing until the ingredients are combined.<\/p>\n F) In a small bowl, whisk the eggs.\u00a0 Add the water a little bit at a time, while you are whisking the eggs.\u00a0 After they are combined, add the tomato paste and whisk until smooth.\u00a0 Add to the meat mixture.\u00a0 It will seem like too much liquid.\u00a0 Don’t worry, it’s not!\u00a0 Continue mixing until the liquid is absorbed and voila, you have meatball mix.<\/p>\n G) Take 2 cookie sheets and spray them with a non-stick cooking spray.\u00a0 Place the meatball mixture on the sheets and spread until smooth.\u00a0 The height should be approximately \u00bc – \u00bd inch.\u00a0 Place in the oven for approximately 10-12 minutes.\u00a0 They will be done cooking when they are no longer pink.\u00a0 Pour off any grease.\u00a0 Grab a spatula and start cutting narrow even lines up and across the sheets.\u00a0 You are cutting the small “square” meatballs.\u00a0 They should cut without crumbling.\u00a0 We recommend doing this while they are still hot and easy to maneuver.\u00a0 After you are done, move the meatballs to another dish and refrigerate.\u00a0 They are now ready to be added to the soup, somewhere down the line.<\/p>\n Step 2.<\/span><\/p>\n A) Find a large, 4-5 gallon pot.\u00a0 Prepare the carrots and celery.\u00a0 Peel the onion.<\/p>\n B) Wash & pat dry the chicken.\u00a0 Place in the pot and pour water over to cover.\u00a0 Now, head back to the sink and rinse out one final time.\u00a0 Fill the pot \u00be full with water and place on the stove over high heat, bring to a boil.\u00a0 For flavor, the chicken breasts must have their bones and skin.\u00a0 As the chicken boils, skim the froth that rises to the top.\u00a0 This will take 15-20 minutes to remove all this froth.\u00a0 Be patient and wear comfy shoes.<\/p>\n C) After all the froth has been removed; add the celery, carrots, and onion.\u00a0 As the soup is cooking you will add salt & pepper numerous times.\u00a0 This is the first.\u00a0 Add about a \u00bc cup of salt and generous grindings of pepper.\u00a0 Cover and place on low heat for 1 \u00bd hours.<\/p>\n No you are not done yet.\u00a0 If you need to take a break, no more than 10 minutes.\u00a0 If you have not already started, grab a bottle of wine and start drinking, it helps you to forget how long this process takes.\u00a0 Just remember, the finished product will be worth it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Step 3. <\/span><\/p>\n A) Escarole, it’s your friend.\u00a0 You and your friend are now ready for the next adventure.\u00a0 Place the escarole in the sink.\u00a0 Cover with water and soak to remove any grit.\u00a0 Drain and break pieces into smaller sections.<\/p>\n B) Grab your other large soup pot and fill \u00be full with water.\u00a0 Place on high heat and bring to a boil.\u00a0 Fill pot with escarole.\u00a0 You may still notice quite a bit left over on your counter.\u00a0 As we mentioned, this might take awhile.\u00a0 You will not be able to put all the escarole in at once.\u00a0 Instead, it will take numerous pots.\u00a0 Please note, use the same water. Hey, at least there’s one step you can cheat on!\u00a0 Parboil escarole until it turns darker in color.\u00a0 Drain and set aside.\u00a0 Toss the water, not the escarole.<\/p>\n Now take some time to be confused as to how 8 bunches of escarole can shrivel to the size of a tennis ball.<\/p>\n Step 4.\u00a0 The Final Phase, (Hopefully you are still with us)<\/span><\/p>\n A) Remove the meatballs from the refrigerator.\u00a0 Let them come to room temperature.\u00a0 Time to remove the chicken from its bath.\u00a0 The broth is the foundation for the soup, do not discard or remove from the stove.<\/p>\n B) Remove the bones and skin from the chicken.\u00a0 Set the bones aside, do not discard.\u00a0 Break apart the breast meat with your hands into small, bite sized pieces.\u00a0 Return meat to pot.\u00a0 Place the bones in a section of cheesecloth.\u00a0 Tie the cheesecloth tightly and place in the pot.\u00a0 This is added for flavor, but must be removed after cooking.<\/p>\n C) Add the cooked escarole and the meatballs to the soup pot.\u00a0 Cover and place on medium-low heat, for 2 \u00bd hours.\u00a0 Add \u00bc cup salt & several groundings of pepper.\u00a0 The soup should simmer but not boil.\u00a0 Stir occasionally.<\/p>\n D) 30 minutes before the soup is done cooking, add the uncooked pasta. Salt & pepper again to taste.<\/p>\n E) After the soup cools down, ladle into storage containers.<\/p>\n Tip: The longer the soup sits, the better the flavor.\u00a0 So, yes, after all this work, you can’t even eat it right away.<\/strong><\/p>\n THE END Although this is a business oriented blog, I did get a request for our family’s Wedding Soup recipe. This recently came up as the best way I could think of to get rid of a cold or flu. Which of course, the faster you can get better, the better it will be for your business!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how_to","tag-wedding-soup-recipe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121,"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions\/121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nxtconcepts.com\/srufo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n1 weekend<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"