Italian wedding soup

Brown the beef shank on both sides in the soup pot with a little vegetable oil.

Add the classic mirepoix of celery, carrots and onions, a couple of quarts of cold water, a bay leaf, a few cloves of garlic and some black peppercorns.

Bring it up to a simmer and back the heat down to a slow gentle simmer for four or five hours, until the meat falls off the bone, adding water to keep the level about where it started, to end up with about a quart of beef stock.

Put boneless beef short ribs in the freezer until firm, cut them into cubes and put them back until almost frozen, firm and cold to the touch but not hard.

Whisk an egg with crushed garlic, fresh Italian parsley and heavy cream, then add Parmesan and one cup of fresh breadcrumbs pulsed from the inside of a loaf of Italian bread.

Pulse the half-frozen meat with salt and pepper in the food processor to a coarse, sausage-like grind, then add the breadcrumb mixture and keep pulsing until it comes together like a ball; refrigerate it.

Pull the stems out of the kale and give it a rough chop.

Strain the beef stock, add an equal quart of chicken broth and about a teaspoon of tomato paste.

Bring it to a simmer, taste for salt and pepper, add the kale and simmer 15 minutes.

Form the meatball mixture into little balls with a small sorbet scoop.

Add a quarter cup of pastina and cook five minutes, until the pasta is almost done.

Carefully slide the meatballs in, stir, and simmer 15 minutes, by which point the meatballs are cooked and tender and the pasta has slightly thickened the broth.

Garnish with fresh black pepper and a little extra Parmesan.