Pa. Barrows said that the chicken meat is discarded and not served in the soup, though other recipes for this soup do sometimes includes the chicken meat from the stewed hen, torn into bite-size pieces. Also, Barrows said that the recipe calls for egg noodle ''flakes,'' which are essentially broken pieces of egg noodles.
Cooks can easily make their own flakes by crushing a package of egg noodles.
Though this recipe calls for spinach, other recipes for this soup call for escarole, which can be easily substituted here. The recipe below also saves a step by adding the raw meatballs to the soup, instead of first browning them in olive oil. Some recipes also call for a little extra grated Parmesan or Romano to be sprinkled atop each bowl for serving. Italian Wedding Soup Note that stewing hens are larger and older than fryers and roasters commonly sold in markets today. If substituting a younger and more tender bird, the cooking time may be reduced.