Sicilian meatball soup with pastina

Known locally as minestra di badduzze, this easy Sicilian meatball soup with pastina is one of my Sicilian husband’s favorite childhood food memories! Super simple to make and absolutely delicious, it has tiny tender meatballs cooked in a beef broth along with pastina. Once the soup is ready, it’s finished off with beaten eggs mixed with pecorino, like in stracciatella! In fact, it’s practically a stracciatella with meatballs. 

This Sicilian meatball soup is an antique recipe said to have originated in rural inland Sicily as a warming dish for the cold winter months. It was (and is) also considered a genuine home remedy or comfort food for the sick, such as children with a fever. Sicilians believe it speeds up recovery thanks to its nutritious ingredients, like chicken noodle soup in other cultures!

What does badduzze mean?

The name ‘badduzze’ (or badduzzi) means small balls or little spheres in the Sicilian dialect. It’s a diminutive of the word badda (ball). Apart from this Sicilian meatball soup wwith pastina, there are several other ‘badduzze’ recipes in the Sicilian kitchen. 

Badduzze al sugo (meatballs in tomato sauce) is a recipe my late Sicilian mother-in-law often made. In Sicily, the tomato sauce is typically used to dress pasta as a first course (primo in Italian), whilst the meatballs are the main course.

One of my favorite Sicilian meatball recipes is ‘badduzzi arrustiti 'ntè pampini i limuni’, in other words meatballs grilled in lemon leaves! I have had this dish in Sicily but haven’t made it myself. Lemon leaves aren’t so easy to come by here in Northern Italy!

Sicilian badduzze aren’t only made with meat. Badduzze di melanzane are eggplant balls that are typically fried or baked and badduzzi di risu are rice balls made from boiled rice mixed with saffron, pecorino or caciocavallo cheese, and eggs. These are then lightly floured, fried, and dropped into hot beef broth.

Ingredient notes, tips and substitutions for Sicilian meatball soup.

The broth:

I used a homemade beef bone broth for this recipe, similar to the broth in my homemade pastina in broth recipe. I really believe that to make a truly rich, deeply flavored soup, you need a long-simmered broth as your base.

Of course, if you are pressed for time, you can skip making it yourself and just use the store-bought variety. The result will be good but most likely not as flavorful nor as nourishing as the homemade beef broth. You will need 2 litres (4 pints) of broth. If you don't have enough broth, you can add a couple of cups of water to increase the quantity.

You can also make this easy Sicilian meatball soup with a homemade vegetable broth or chicken broth.

The meatballs:

The meatballs in this Sicilian recipe are very small, about the size of a hazelnut. You can of course make them a little bigger. Unlike other meatballs, these have no bread crumbs. So, they are gluten free.

Apart from the ground meat, the meatball ingredients are garlic, eggs, nutmeg, grated pecorino and fresh parsley. The meatballs poach in the broth. They aren’t fried beforehand like many classic meatball recipes.

The ground meat:

The Sicilian recipe I followed called for ground veal for the meatballs. Veal makes a lighter tasting and tender meatball which goes really well with the other ingredients in this soup. However, veal can be expensive and less easily available. You can use ground beef or pork or a mixture instead. Although not traditional in Sicily, ground chicken would also work.

The pasta:

Although there are versions of this soup without pasta, it is most often made with a type of pastina such as acini de pepe or ditalini pasta or thin long pasta like angel hair or fresh tagliolini. The pasta helps to make the soup more filling and adds healthy carbs to the dish. I used orzo (risoni) made by Garofalo but use your favorite soup pasta. Stelline are popular too. 

The egg and cheese mixture:

As in Italian stracciatella (also called Italian egg drop soup), this meatball soup is finished off with a beaten egg and cheese mixture that’s drizzled into the simmering soup then whisked causing it to break up and form little clouds that look like tiny shredded rags (straccetti). I used 2 whole organic free range eggs and grated pecorino. You can also use Parmigiano (parmesan cheese).

Optional ingredients.

Although not included in the Sicilian recipe I followed, you can add the following ingredients to this soup to enhance the flavor or include more fibre and vitamins.

Lemon zest, the carrots and celery stalks from the broth if you made it yourself or fresh vegetables like spinach, escarole or kale. However, we loved this soup as is and my Sicilian husband says this is how his mother used to make it!

Step by step instructions.

Preparation: If you plan to make your own beef bone broth, you will need to start it well in advance or even the day before because it takes at least 4-5 hours to make. However, I regularly make homemade broth to use in soups, stews and ragus. I freeze jars of it for later use which allows me to make recipes like this Sicilian meatball soup quickly. See recipe instructions for broth ingredients.

Preparation 2: Peel and chop the garlic, wash and chop the parsley and break 2 eggs into a small bowl and whisk.

Make the mini meatballs.

Step 1) Put the ground veal (beef or pork) in a large mixing bowl bowl. Add chopped garlic and parsley and use your hands to mix them into the meat.

Step 2) Now, add the eggs and mix again. Then the grated cheese and nutmeg as well as salt and black pepper to taste. Combine everything together until it’s thoroughly mixed.

3) Shape the meat mixture into hazelnut size meatballs and place them on a tray covered with parchment paper. You may need two trays. We made 100 meatballs following this recipe, equivalent to 25 per person if serving 4. 

Make the Sicilian meatball soup.

Step 4) Bring the broth to a simmer in a large pot or Dutch oven over a medium-high heat. Then add the meatballs. Cook for 5 minutes. 

5) Add a pinch of sea salt and the pastina to the simmering broth and meatballs and cook until the pasta is al dente (5-10 minutes). Turn off the heat.

6) Add grated cheese to the whisked eggs and whisk again. Pour the eggs and cheese mixture into the hot soup whilst stirring with a wooden spoon. 

Serve your Sicilian meatball soup immediately with extra grated cheese and a little chopped parsley if required.

What to do with leftovers.

You can keep leftover Sicilian meatball soup with pastina in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat the leftovers on the stove top or in a soup bowl in the microwave.

Cook’s tip. The pastina in leftover soup will get softer and bigger and may absorb some of the soup liquid. So, when reheating you may have to add some liquid (broth or water). To avoid this, cook the pastina separately and add it to the soup bowls when serving. However, I think the pasta is tastier cooked in the broth and this Italian meatball soup tastes even better the next day.

Let me know what you think

This Sicilian meatball soup is really easy to make. It’s only time consuming if you make the broth yourself beforehand but with ready-made broth (your own or a commercial beef stock) it takes no time at all. It’s also super tasty and nutritious. A traditional rustic soup that makes a comforting one-pot one-plate complete meal all the whole family will love! Perfect for busy weeknight dinners!

If you do give this meatball soup a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out and if you liked it. Please leave a comment here on the blog or on The Pasta Project Facebook page.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Buon appetito! 

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