A warming combination

The Italian wedding soup that chef Brandon Boudet makes at Dominick’s restaurant in West Hollywood may be comfort soup, but it’s elegant and light. “It’s a great version of stracciatella -- Italian egg drop soup,” says Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila. “The broth is rich, flavored with swatches of emerald spinach and Swiss chard, bobbing with dainty meatballs with a touch of heat.”

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Dominick’s Italian wedding soup

Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Servings: 8

Note: From Brandon Boudet at Dominick’s

Meatballs

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

3 Button or brown mushrooms, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 pound ground beef

1/3 pound ground pork

1. Heat a small skillet with the oil and saute the onion, garlic, celery, mushrooms and parsley for about 5 minutes. Add the fennel and red pepper flakes and cook 2 minutes, then remove from heat and cool slightly.

2. In a large bowl combine the cooked vegetables with the bread crumbs, egg, salt and ground meats and mix well. Form into meatballs the size of a nickel. Set aside. Makes about 32 meatballs.

Soup

1 cup thinly sliced onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 bunch Swiss chard, lightly chopped (about 4 cups)

4 ounces raw spinach, stems removed, lightly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

2 quarts low-sodium chicken or meat broth

32 meatballs

2 room-temperature eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-

Reggiano cheese

1. In an 8-quart pot, cook the onion and garlic in olive oil for 4 minutes. Add the chard and spinach and cook 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and simmer 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

3. When ready to serve, drizzle the raw eggs into the broth slowly in a circular motion to create large strands of cooked egg. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese.

Each serving: 233 calories; 17 grams protein; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 112 mg. cholesterol; 499 mg. sodium.