Soups
A quiche unlike others – Cauliflower-camembert quiche with chili-poppy seed crust
Jun 30th
Une quiche pas comme les autres – Quiche de chou fleur au camembert et pâte aux graines de pavot-piment
A good friend of mine just had surgery on her foot, and is staying at home recovering, so when I asked her if she wanted me to bring her something, she responded “a vegetable quiche”! So here we are…The worse thing about foot surgery is that you are stuck in bed or walking with crutches, and there is not much activity you can do…so I made the quiche ready to bring it to her, then one of those unexpected things happened, I had to take my car to the garage, so the quiche had to stay with me.
I love to flavor my crusts and doughs, it adds a lovely flavor and character to the dish…you can use anything you like to flavor the crust, herbes de provence, parmesan, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, etc…in this particular one, I added poppy seeds and chili flakes, and really makes a great balance with the quiche filling. I used olive oil instead of the traditional French pâte brisée made with butter, and a mixture of wholesome flours such as kamut and spelt which gives this crust its beautiful dark color. Also, traditional quiche has crème fraîche, I added milk instead, if you want to keep it a little lighter milk can be substituted or a mixture of milk and cream will be a nice alternative.
Now what more French than camembert? not many things…It’s hard to find great camembert in the US, you know the one that’s not too “fait” (too hard) or too “coulant” (runny) with a subtle scent. I found one at Whole Foods that was being recommended by the gentleman behind the counter, so I decided to listen for once to what people tell me…and the camembert was perfect, juste comme il faut! So we ended up with a healthy quiche filled with vegetables and a wholesome and flavorful crust.
Ingredients for about 4 people
For the crust
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
- 1/2 cup kamut flour
- 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tbs poppy seeds
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- a few pinches of salt
For the filling
- 1 small green cauliflower
- 1/2 camembert, sliced
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk (or 1/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup cream)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the crust
In a mixing container, mix all flours together. Add poppy seeds, chili and salt. Add olive oil and water gradually and start kneading the dough. Stop kneading when the dough becomes homogeneous and smooth. Wrap in a plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
For the filling
Break cauliflower into florets, and cook them in salted boiling water until cauliflower is cooked but still firm. Drain and crush with a fork. Set aside.
In a mixing container, beat eggs, milk (or cream) cumin seeds, salt and pepper.
To make quiche, roll dough into a sheet of 2-3 mm thick. Place in mold. Spread evenly crushed cauliflower in bottom of mold. Top it with camembert slices. Pour egg mixture on top.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F until the dough is cooked and top is golden brown.
Have you tried eating velvet? – Cream of fava bean and edamame with poached quail eggs
Jun 28th
Avez-vous déjà mangé du velours – Crème de fèves et edamame aux oeufs de caille pochés
Quail eggs are underused in my opinion…aren’t those adorable? l love those tiny and cute eggs, they’re so delicate with a very fragile shell, and certainly can enhance any velouté. I like anything that comes in a small portion, the beauty of such a tiny egg is that you can fit it all in your mouth and break it inside if you like or break it on top of your soup. As far as eggs are concerned, I have this thing about breaking them, and I hate to see the yolk all over the place.
You can make this soup with just fava beans or peas, or also a mixture of both, they both have very velvety and sweet flavors when puréed. The edamame remain a little crunchy, so it’s important to cook them a little longer and blend them longer too so they are completely puréed into a smooth texture.
If you cannot find quail eggs, you can always use one regular poached egg instead.
When poaching eggs, adding some vinegar is quite an important part of a successful process. Usually the quantity of vinegar is about 10% of the water quantity, and the water needs to boil at high temperature, then to be decreased when pouring the eggs, this way, the whites coagulates around the yolks and don’t get spread out in the water.
Ingredients for 4
- 12.34 oz (or 350 g) fava beans (net weight without the pods)
- 3.52 oz (or 100 g) edamame (fresh or frozen)
- 1.5 shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tbs crème fraîche
- vegetable broth
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 12 quail eggs
Preparation
Cook fava beans in a pot of boilng water for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and peel them. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a pan, then add shallots and garlic and brown them. If using frozen edamame, add them and cook for about 10-15 minutes, then add peeled fava beans.
Cover with broth, adjust with salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. Add cream and blend in mixer or using an immersion blender. Pass the soup through a sieve and keep warm. IF the soup is too thick add broth to desired consistency.
For the quail eggs, bring about 2 cups of water to a boil with vinegar (preferably white vinegar). Reduce heat. Break carefully quail eggs in a container, then pour them in water, making sure the whites remain around the yolk, using a spoon, keep whites close to the yolks. Cook for one minute, remove from water, and place in a cold water to stop the cooking process.
Divide soups in bowls, then add three poached eggs, sprinkle with paprika and olive oil and serve.
Old soups are back – Roasted vegetable soup and oregano with tofu croutons…and 300th post!
Jun 10th
Les anciennes soupes sont de retour – Soupe de légumes grillés et croutons de tofu…et 300 ème post!
Yes time flies and I just realized that this is my 300th post! I completely forgot the 100th and 200th…
I knew when I ordered a new washing machine and dryer that something was going to happen and something did happen…today’s delivery has been canceled because they were in back order. So I have to keep running the dryer six cycles to have the clothes dry. I bet PG&E are thrilled and my mom to lift me up, told me “you don’t need a dryer, it ruins all the clothes”. Very few people have a dryer in Europe, so for most Europeans it’s an unnecessary item…let’s not put all Europeans in the same basket, let’s just say for my mom…but I don’t know anyone who has a dryer among my friends and family.
I was somehow disappointed and bummed, and not in the mood for cooking long and complicated meals…and since I had all the ingredients without rushing to my Greek grocery store, there was no question, I was going to make this soup. I used to make it quite often, then for whatever unexplained reason, it stopped appearing on my table…let’s go back to old recipes, sometimes you forget how great they are. This soup is filled with vegetables and is absolutely a, and 100% vegan. The tofu croutons do add this chewy/crunchy texture that blends beautifully with a spoonful of fragrant creamy soup. You can serve this with a tapenade tartine, so the leftover tapenade from yesterday came in handy. The olives complement the flavors of the soup to perfection. For the broth quantities, you will have to adjust it to your tastes, some people like their soup thicker, some people prefer it thinner, so you will have to play around with it.
Ingredients for 4
- 1 eggplant, sliced crosswise
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 zucchini, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and sliced
- 4 tomatoes, peeled and seedless
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbs oregano
- 1 tbs olive oil
- vegetable broth
- extra firm tofu
- flour
- fleur de sel
- pepper
Preparation
Grill bell pepper under broiler until the skin get charred. Peel and remove seeds. Cut in slices.
Place all the remaining vegetables in a tray, sprinkle with fleur de sel, pepper and olive oil and broil under broiler. Turn the vegetables both sides to grill them.
Mix bell peppers with the rest of the vegetables, add broth garlic, oregano and using a hand blender, mix to obtain a smooth purée.
For the tofu croutons, cut tofu in small cubes, coat them with flour, remove excess flour. Heat olive oil in a pan saute tofu at high temperature until both sides turn golden brown. Serve in bowls, add tofu croutons in the middle and drizzle with olive oil and extra oregano.
This soup can be eaten lukewarm or hot. If you like it hot, just heat it up on the stove for a few minutes before adding tofu.
A happy match – Cream of fennel and cannellini beans with marinated feta tartine
Apr 8th
Un mariage bienheureux – Crème de fenouil et haricots blancs, tartine de féta mariné
Fennel and cannellini is a very Mediterranean combination, then if you accompany it with feta, there is no more doubt about it. Fennel is perfect for soups and purées, and of course in so many other ways too. When I make those purée types of soups, I cannot help it to accompany it with a tartine of country bread and with some kind of cheese, Roquefort, ricotta, feta, goat cheese, anything that will enhance a spoonful of that sweet fennel flavor.
My favorite alcoholic aperitif being pastis, I love fennel since its sweet anis flavor reminds me of Marseille and the South of France. If you ever end up in Marseille, you have to drink a pastis, it’s the local drink and incredibly refreshing during summer time…of course if you like anis.
Technically what is the difference between a cream, a velouté, a bisque, when talking about a soup? Their main common point is that they’re thick and blended soups. Yes, in the French language there are quite a lot of words to describe “a soup” but they all have very distinct and precise meanings, there are so many nuances that sometimes it’s intricate to explain them accurately.
The velouté is a blended soup, creamy and unctuous and enhanced by cream that contains meats and crustaceans. The cream is made out of pure vegetables combined with crème fraîche.
Bisque is a velouté in which its main ingredient is a crustacean and thickened by yolks and cream.
Then of course, we have the bouillon and the consommé, which are broth based and have a liquid texture. The word soup is a generic one, and does not give you any information on the type of soup you are eating…just a soup.
I did not add cream in my cream of fennel, so technically it cannot be called “cream”, you can add crème fraîche at the end like it should, I am just keeping things light, so au revoir la crème.
Ingredients for 4
For the soup
- 2 fennel bulbs, sliced
- 1 medium size onion, chopped
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1/2 lb cannellini beans, cooked
- vegetable broth
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs mint for decoration
For the tartines
- 4 slices country bread, cut in halves
- 4 tbs feta, crumbled
- 1/8 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp olive oil
- cracked black pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a large pot and brown onions, then add fennel and thyme. Stir well to coat the fennel, then add broth (enough just to cover the fennel mixture), adjust with salt and pepper.
When the fennel is cooked, add cooked cannellini beans, and let the soup for about 10 minutes (adjust broth if necessary).
Remove from heat and blend in a blender into a thin mixture.
For the tartines, crumble carefully feta cheese in a container, add spices, herbs and oil. Mix carefully not to break the cheese. Toast slices of bread and top if with cheese.
Ready for a chill? – Chilled avocado and cucumber soup
Mar 26th
Prêts pour l’été? – Soupe d’avocat et concombre froide pimentée
Il y a du citron mais pas de vanille! Doesn’t this feel like summer? I am so ready for it…well a real summer somewhere…where it’s warm and sunny, where you can wear tank tops without a sweater on top, and where the fog doesn’t make your hair curl (it was my teenage nightmare, now I cut it, so no more curls). Oh well, I’m sure I can find this place, I just have to drive 20 miles North or South from the city. In the meantime, I got myself in the summer mood with a chilled soup. I made this a while ago and since I had a lot of ripe avocados left, I thought it would be a good remake.
When I think of avocado, I think about skin care products, avocado’s flesh is incredibly smooth that I just want to spread it on my face, extremely delicate and subtle. Cucumber is also a wonderful ingredient for skin care as a matter of fact, so eating this soup makes me feel like I am just getting double benefits, nutritious and beautiful skin, even though I doubt that I will wake up tomorrow with a smooth and peachy skin like you see on magazines! Anyway, on peut toujours rêver, you can always dream about it.
I bought so many of those mini glasses for mise en bouche while I was in France, and they did not even break in the suitcase, so now I have to use them, and this chilled soup is perfect for these mini presentations. Actually I like to use mini glasses for avocado soup, avocado being quite high in calories, it’s better to serve it in small portions than regular plates.
What’s more perfect for informal dinners where you want to serve small bites and cute apéritifs to nibble on without feeling stuffed?
I don’t know about you, but my favorite dishes to prepare are appetizers and hors d’oeuvres. It’s where I have the most fun, probably because they are related to entertainment and that’s really one of my favorite activity (if that can be called one).
This soup needs to be consumed chilled, so you can prepare it in advance and leave it in the refrigerator until serving. It’s quick, tasty and delicious, so a “keeper” in my food world.
Ingredients for 15-20 mini glasses
- 1.5 avocado
- 1/2 English cucumber, peeled and seeds removed
- juice of 1 Meyer lemon
- 3 tbs Greek yogurt or regular yogurt
- 2 scallions, chopped
- cayenne pepper
- 1 cup or more vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Remove the flesh of the avocado, mix with cucumber and add lemon juice. Mix all ingredients well. Add all other ingredients and, using a hand blend, mix to obtain a smooth consistency.
For the broth, I added it gradually until I got the consistency I wanted. Avocado being creamy, you might need to add more broth.
Refrigerate for a few hours, and serve chilled.
Guest post at Peasant Chef – Minestrone soup
Feb 11th
Minestrone di verdura
Dachary Carey of The Peasant Chef, asked me if I would be interested in a guest post discussing healthy food, organic and local raised products and why I decided to be a chef. I thought that Peasant Chef was really in line with my values and beliefs and without hesitation accepted the invitation. I wanted to feature a traditional and very healthy dish that my mom used to make with our garden vegetables and Minestrone came to my mind. It’s a very hearty soup, with so many different types of vegetables and vitamins so a gold mine in a bowl. Recipe and article at Peasant Chef.
Ingredients for 4
- 1 large potato, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1 cup green chards, chopped
- 2 cups green beens, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup fresh peas (or frozen)
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 2 celeri sticks, diced
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and seedless
- 1/2 cup dry cannellini beans (or 1 cup can organic cannellini beans)
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs basil, chopped
- 2/3 cup Ditalini pasta (optional)
- 1.5 liters vegetable broth (slightly more)
- parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated
- salt and pepper
________________________________________________________________________________________
From Dachary Carey
The focus on healthy cooking and using fresh, local produce is important to us at Peasant Chef. It was in looking for other food lovers who share that focus that we came across Silvia’s website and blog. We love her concept as a personal chef who focuses on healthy, fresh cuisine, and her Italian and French background gives her an edge in creating tasty food that’s still a pleasure to look at and eat! That’s what caught our attention about Silvia’s blog – the beautiful pictures of her tasty food, and the passion that came through about cooking healthy foods with fresh ingredients.
Support local farms and be good to your body.
One of the great things about living in most parts of the United States is that there are local farms almost everywhere you go. While there are large tracts of land devoted to corporate farming, local farms haven’t vanished entirely, and are actually making a bit of a comeback. As people are getting more and more focused on healthy eating, sustainable farming practices and organic, pesticide-free ingredients, local farms are filling this niche.
By using produce and ingredients from local farms, you’re supporting the local farmers and simultaneously putting good things into your body. By using organic, pesticide-free foods, you’re not putting dangerous chemicals and hormones into your body. Not only is it good for the farmers, but it’s good for you – it’s a win-win!
Fresh ingredients just taste better.
One thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that fresh ingredients just taste better! If you look at the average packaged food at your grocery store, it’s loaded with artificial flavors and preservatives. The reason that companies need all that garbage is because the food isn’t fresh!
If you cook with fresh ingredients, you can tap into natural, fresh flavors. Fresh herbs and spices provide so much more flavor than dried versions, for example, that your mouth will be in for a real treat. And by cooking fresh foods instead of preparing packaged foods from the store, not only are you eating healthier, but you’ll even enjoy your food better!
Try it at home sometime. Make your own tomato sauce for pasta out of tomatoes, hamburger, onions, garlic and maybe even some green pepper. Add some salt and pepper, and maybe some herbs or oregano for extra flavor. It typically only takes 15-20 minutes to whip up a batch of fresh pasta sauce – it doesn’t have to take forever! Taste it, and you’ll realize what you’ve been missing by eating canned pasta sauce all those years – and you’ll never go back.
You are what you eat – literally!
Everyone has heard the phrase “you are what you eat,” but most people don’t realize exactly how literal that phrase truly is. If you eat unhealthy foods high in saturated fat all the time, your body will become saggy, listless and sluggish. On the other hand, if you eat healthy, fresh foods, you’ll have more energy and your immune system will perform better than it ever has!
Countries that eat a healthier diet have significantly lower rates of obesity, drastically reduced rates of heart disease and even live longer lives. The things you put in your body directly affect how your body performs, so give it good fuel and you’ll get a lot of healthy years out of it!
Keep eating healthy – and enjoy it!
Thanks, Silvia, for making a website focused on eating healthy, tasty foods! Hopefully you can help people realize that healthy food doesn’t have to lack flavor, and delicious food doesn’t have to be unhealthy.
No soup for the holidays – Soup of cauliflower, chickpeas and quadretti
Jan 31st
Zuppa con cavolfiore, ceci e quadretti
I heard California got a lot of rain this season, all the news talked about it when I was in France and I heard it from my neighbors when I got back. The good things is that it’s clearing up. Eventhough France was very cold with -10C temperatures some days, my mom never made soup and neither did I. Of course during the holidays, we tend to eat “holiday meals” and strangely enough soup is not entitled to the be on the “holiday” list, so I somehow missed it.
One soup I really like is this cauliflower soup with chick peas and small pasta, you can put potatoes instead of the pasta, or even both. You can use any small pasta such as quadretti (little squares), ditali (small cylinders) or any small pasta to be used is broths or soups. I had none left so I cut some fettucine into small pieces, and it worked quite well. The difference is that quadretti are a egg pasta and thinner than fettucine which are not supposed to be used in soup as per the pasta étiquette. So I went against the étiquette, nonetheless it was really enjoyable. I think some ingredients can be substituted and some others, cannot. In this case, I would say it could be.
I am not sure how the word “pasta” is used in the US, if it refers to a particular pasta dish cooked in a particular way and not in soups. Then not sure what the word “noodle” refers to either, so I will try to be as accurate I can be. For me noodles reminds me of the Asian pasta, and not Italian pasta. Every kind of pasta in Italy has its own name, that makes it quite easy to what type of pasta you are talking about.
Ingredients for 4
- 1 medium size cauliflower
- 2 potatoes
- 4 medium tomatoes, seedless, peeled and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbs onions chopped
- 1 rosemary sprig
- 1/2 lb chick peas (either canned or dry and soaked overnight)
- 5 tbs quadretti or small pasta for soups
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a large pot, brown onions, then add garlic, stir a few minutes. Add tomatoes, cook for about 5 minutes to let the water evaporates, then add potatoes, cauliflower and rosemary. Stir well to coat all the vegetables and cook for about 7 min stirring. Add enough broth to cover the vegetables (you might want to add extra to have enough liquid to cook the quadretti). Let it cook until the vegetables are tender but not mushy, remove rosemary then add chick peas. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add pasta and 1 garlic clove and cook until desired texture (I like them al dente). Sprinkle with olive oil, cracked pepper and serve.
Fall colors – Soup of Spinach, broccoli, leeks with whole wheat orzo and mimolette
Dec 16th
Couleurs d’Automne – Soupe aux épinards, broccoli et poireaux, aux risoni complets et mimolette
Winter is soup time, and when I ran into mimolette, I could not resist. I had not seen Mimolette before in the US and I was so excited. I had planned to make a gratin, and a soup with it, but the cheese did not not make it to either dish. I just ate it all and in a very quick and fashionable manner.
Mimolette is a French cheese made in Lille, the North of France. It’s also called “Boule de Lille“, it’s a cheese produced with cow milk, with a condensed raw flesh (pâte pressée). Its deep orange color comes from a natural coloring called “roucou” which is a plant used in some cheeses such as Gouda, Cheddar or Edam and used in Europe as food coloring. Mimolette’s hard texture is similar to Dutch Gouda. The older it gets, the harder the texture becomes, and I really love extra old Mimolette, it tends to have a more pronounced character.
I somehow love salty cheeses, they go perfectly well in soups, gratins, and enhance many dishes. This soup made with three green vegetables is full of vitamins and flavors. When I make “creamy” and thick soups like this one, I like it served either with toasted bread or sometimes with small pasta cooked in the soup. You get a wholesome and wonderful meal. Risoni is the Italian name for “orzo”which in Italy is barley, so it can get confusing. My mom used to make soups when I was a child with risoni, it’s very common in Italy to use small pasta like this one or ditalini in soups.
The other important ingredient in this soup is the garlic that adds a lot of character to the broth, it balances out the earthy flavors of the green vegetables.
Ingredients for 4
- 100 g orzo
- 1 1/2 leek, diced
- 2 cups broccoli
- 2 cups raw spinach
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
- 6 tbs mimolette, grated
- 2 tbs olive oil
- vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
Preparation
In a large pot, heat olive oil, add broccoli and leeks and cook for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are coated with olive oil. Add 3 garlic cloves, whole and peeled. Add broth. For broth quantity, it needs to cover vegetables to about 1 cm of liquid. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are cooked all the way through about 20-30 minutes.
When vegetables are cooked add spinach leaves (if using baby spinach, no need to chop them, otherwise you will have to chop them roughly). Cook and extra 5-10 minutes. Add crushed garlic and cook an extra 5 minutes.
Keep about two laddles of vegetables aside. Blend the rest in a blender into a smooth purée. Place the vegetables pieces back into the pot with the purée and place back on pot at low heat. When it starts boiling, add orzo, and stir well. Keep on stirring for a while to prevent pasta from sticking. If the consistency is too thick add a little broth. Cook until al dente and serve in bowls. Add 1 tbs of mimolette and sprinkle with olive oil.
A soup for my new cocotte! – Brussels sprouts, potatoes and mushroom velouté
Dec 7th
Une soupe pour ma nouvelle cocotte! – Velouté de choux de Bruxelles, pommes de terre et champignons
I have already made Brussels sprouts soup with cannelli beans a while ago, this is another version that is as good as the other one, just a little greener. I prefer Brussels sprouts in soups than as a side dish, I think their flavor gets smoother and more subtle. It has a velvety and creamy texture, with a nutty flavor from the mushrooms but very delicate. The weather forecast predicted a rainy week and season as a matter of fact and I am getting ready for some winter dishes and brussel sprouts being a winter vegetable, will be occasionally on my table this winter.
I know many people are not fond of Brussels sprouts, but I think it’s good to try new ways to prepare things. I like them, I am not crazy for them like I would be for artichokes but I like to make velouté with those cute little round balls.
I got a new cocotte Le Creuset (I think in the US it’s called Dutch oven), I had an old one that was too small. That’s wonderful to cook anything such as stews, sauces, soups, and I cooked the soup to celebrate its first use. I think every one who cooks has a cast-iron cocotte. It is indispensable in cooking. The advantages of enamel cast-iron pots is that they diffuse the heat evenly and are perfect for slow cooking, braising, roasting, etc…
Le Creuset line tends to be a little on the expensive side in the US, it’s not that cheap in France either but still cheaper than here, in my opinion, it’s worth it since those pots last a lifetime.
Ingredients for 4-5
- 1 lb Brussels sprouts, cut in halves
- 4 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms, roughly cut
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 thyme leave
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 4 tbs crème fraîche
- 4 slices prosciutto (optional)
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Wash the sprouts, cut the extra stem and remove the hard leaves from the outside.
In a large pot, heat olive oil, add onion and brown them. Add thyme and stir for another 5 minutes.
Add Brussels sprouts, potatoes and stir again to coat the vegetables with olive oil and onions. Add bouillon and water. For water quantity, I cover the vegetables with about 1 cm water showing above level of vegetables. That is the perfect quantity I use when making velouté. Adjust with salt and pepper.
Cook until all the vegetables are cooked. When cooked remove thyme branch, and blend using a blender or a mixer.
Serve with a small spoon of creme fraîche and a slice of grilled prosciutto.
The poor soup – Passatelli revisited with chards and carrots
Dec 1st
La povera zuppa – Passatelli in brodo vegetale con bietole e carote
I had a conversation with my mom this morning, she told me she made passatelli, suddenly I got the irresistible urge to make them too. When I lived at home, I was never a fan of them, probably because that soup was served way too often. Between my grandma and my mom, we ate passatelli maybe once a week. When you eat something all the time, the excitement goes away. I guess tastes change when you grow up and move out of your country.
This is a regional soup very common in Romagna and Marche regions of Italy, it’s traditionally made for some festive occasions, but then people end up making them when they feel like it. It’s another peasant dish made basically with breadrumbs, parmesan, eggs, nutmeg and if you want lemon peel (I like it better without it, I think the lemon is too strong).
The original recipes is made with a chicken or beef broth (or sometimes a combination of both). I like it also with just a vegetable broth. Here, the broth has been enhanced with chards and carrots “en julienne” (cut in tiny strips), so you get a little texture and color and of course the benefits of eating vegetables.
I always ate broth made with hen instead of chicken, hen is fatter and takes hours to cook, so it’s mainly used in broths. Nowadays people use chicken in their broth, probably because it takes less time to cook. It’s important to “degrease” the broth from the deposits and fat the meat produces (if you’re using meat) while cooking, so you’ll get a clear and healthy broth. When making passatelli usually, you eat the boiled meat along with the soup called “lesso“, I have never been a fan of it, and remember my dad pouring tons of black pepper and olive oil on top of his meat.
You need to have that particular kind of potato masher (schiacciapatate) like this one, to make those little round and long threads (not sure how to describe them). There is another tool used to make passatelli but I don’t think it’s available in the US.
I like to make my own breadcrumbs with old and hard baguette or what is called “Italian bread”, I grate it and get great quality crumbs. The ones you buy already made in stores tend to have an unpleasant taste, and for the passatelli home made crumbs work much better and hold the paste together well, so when you drop them in the broth, they don’t break.
Ingredients for 4
For the broth
- 4 cups or more of water
- 1 leek
- 1 carrot
- 2 celeri stalks
- 1 turnip
- 1 onion with 4 cloves
- 1 bay leave
- 1 thyme sprig
- 1/2 hen or chicken, or beef
- salt and pepper
For the passatelli
- 250 g parmesan, finely grated
- 250 g breadcrumbs
- 3 tbs flour
- 4 eggs
- nutmeg
- lemon peel (optional)
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the broth
Using a large pot, mix ingredients with water and let it simmer for a while at least an hour. If using hen, it might take over 2 hours. Regularly, remove the deposits you get on the surface of your broth (especially, if you are using a meat based broth).
When the broth is cooked, remove all the vegetables and residues and drain it through a sieve to get a clear broth. Add carrots and chopped chards, and let it cook for a few minutes, until the carrots are cooked.
For the passatelli
In a mixing container, mix, breadcrumbs, parmesan, eggs, flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well and let it rest for about an hour. You need to have a hard enough mixture, but not too hard or it will not go through the potato masher.
Fill the potato masher with the dough mixture, bring the potato masher on top of boiling broth and squeeze to produce the passatelli, then cut the base with a knife. The passatelli will drop on top of your pot. Cook for one minute or so. Remove from the stove, sprinkle wit olive oil and serve hot.
