This is a somewhat time-intensive but simple recipe from Grandma Louisa. Escarole is in season in the fall, and I haven't been able to find it here in January, so I've been making this soup from chard instead and it's still delicious. My mom remembers my great grandmother gathering dandelion greens to cook with, and they may or may not have gone into this soup, so that's worth a try too.
We had to reconstruct this from memory, since apparently no one wrote it down. I don't know if I got it quite right, but it tastes good. Unless you put way too much pepper in. Don't do that.
Soup:
4 quarts chicken broth
2 heads escarole, or 2 bunches of chard
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef
1 egg
2 slices sandwich bread, crumbled (use a grater or food processor) (can be omitted for gluten-free version)
1 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic granules or minced garlic, optional
Mix all meatball ingredients in a bowl. With your hands, if you're not too grossed out by the idea. Squeezing and squishing the meat will get it all to stick together. Put the broth in a pot on the stove to boil while forming the meatballs. Meatballs should be 1/2" to 3/4" across.
Slide meatballs into the boiling broth and simmer while chopping greens. Cut greens in 1" strips, removing thick parts of the stem if using chard. Add greens to soup and simmer until just softened (this is 15-20 minutes for chard, less for escarole). Salt and pepper to taste.
Top with grated Parmesan to serve.
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