Italian Wedding Soup

For the meatballs:

1 lb. ground chicken
2/3 c fresh white bread crumbs
2 t minced garlic
3 T chopped fresh parsley
1/4 c freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
1/4 freshly grated parmesean cheese, plus extra for serving
3 T milk
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

2 T good olive oil
1 c minced yellow onion
1 cup 1/4 inch diced carrots (3 carrots)
3/4 cup 1/4 inch diced celery (2 stalks)
10 c homemade or store bought chicken stock
1/2 c white wine
1 c small pasta such as tubetini or stars
12 oz baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Preheat the oven to 350. For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, pecorino, parmesean, milk, egg, 1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. Also add 1 T italian seasoning.

With a teaspoon, drop 1- to 1-1/4 inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment (should have 40 meatballs).
Bake for 30 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Set aside.

For the soup, heat the olive oil in soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, celery and saute for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the chicken stock and wine, and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 6-8 minutes. Add the meatballs and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the spinach, and simmer for 1 minute, until spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra parm cheese.