Sunday, December 03, 2006

Stracciatella (Italian egg and cheese soup)

Now that it's winter (the highs are down to the 60's or 70's!), my SO and I have started craving soups. While we're often happy to make soups that take hours to simmer, we sometimes just want a soup on the spur of the moment; that's where soups like this come in. This soup tastes exactly like what it's made of: chicken stock, eggs, garlic, and cheese; it's delicious. Since this was so good, and so quick to make (less than 10 minutes, including grinding breadcrumbs and grating cheese), it's this week's end-of-the-week recipe blogging post.

3 cups chicken stock
1 large egg
1 small clove garlic, finely minced or pressed with a garlic press
2 tablespoons finely grated pecorino romano cheese (or parmesan)
1/2 teaspoon dry parsley (or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley)
1 tablespoon dry breadcrumbs
ground nutmeg, to taste

1. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a smallish pot.
2. Meanwhile, mix the egg, garlic, cheese, parsley, and breadcrumbs together in a small bowl or cup.
3. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the stock while stirring quickly.
4. Continue simmering for ~1 minute, or until the egg is set.
5. Ladle into bowls, and sprinkle with a bit of nutmeg, if desired.

Notes:

This recipe makes enough for about 2 bowls of soup; scale the recipe accordingly. Use good quality chicken stock, as this soup relies on the stock for much of its flavor. The original recipe calls for fresh parsley; we used dried parsley because our parsley plant died recently.

Radagast despises nutmeg, and thus didn't add any to his soup; it was just fine without it. Radagast's SO, however, enjoyed it with the nutmeg.

This recipe is based on one from Rombauer et al. (1997).

Rombauer, I. S., M. R. Becker, and E. Becker. 1997. Joy of Cooking. Scribner, NY.

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