Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (18 page)

This is a substantial and delicate soup. But paradise, even Mohammed’s paradise, has nothing to do with it.

Beat four egg whites until stiff, then blend in the yolks. Add four not very full tablespoons of fine bread crumbs made from dry bread, an equal amount of Parmesan cheese, and a hint of nutmeg.

Stir the mixture gently so that it remains fluffy, and drop it by small spoonfuls into boiling broth. Allow it to boil for seven or eight minutes and send it to the table.

These amounts serve six people.

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of milk-fed lean veal

25 grams (about 4/5 of an ounce) of untrimmed prosciutto

25 grams (about 4/5 of an ounce) of grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons of a paste made with crustless fine bread, water, and a little butter

legg

a dash of nutmeg

salt to taste

First chop the meat and the prosciutto with a knife, and then dice more finely with a mezzaluna. Pound it in a mortar and pass through a sieve. Mix with the egg and the other ingredients. When the broth is boiling, drop the mixture in by small spoonfuls or squeeze it through a pastry tube to give it a more pleasing form. When the dumplings are cooked, send the soup to the table.

This amount is enough for four or five people, but it can serve as many as twelve if you make the following bread soup. Take very good, dry, day-old bread, dice it small, brown it in a saucepan with a generous amount of fat. When you are ready to serve, place the bread in the soup tureen and pour the puréed meat soup over it.

Here are two recipes which, apart from quantity, differ very little from one another.

First, to serve four people:

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of bread crumbs

20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of beef marrow

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of grated Parmesan cheese

2eggs

a dash of nutmeg, or lemon zest, or both

Second, to serve seven to eight people:

170 grams (about 6 ounces) of bread crumbs

30 grams (about 1 once) of beef marrow

70 grams (about 2-1/2 ounces) of Parmesan cheese

3 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

nutmeg or lemon zest as above

The marrow makes the dumplings more tender. It is not necessary to soften it over the heat, you just need to chop it finely with the blade of a knife. Mix everything together to form a rather firm loaf—but leave aside some bread crumbs to add later, if necessary.

These noodles are called passatelli because they take their form by being passed through the holes of a metal device made especially for the purpose, and few are the families in Romagna that do not possess the implement. This dish is prized there, as indeed, for climatic reasons, are all kinds of egg noodles, which are eaten nearly on a daily basis. The noodles can also be squeezed through a pastry tube.

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of beef fillet

50 grams (about 1 -2/3 ounces) of bread crumbs

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of grated Parmesan cheese

15 grams (about 1/2 an ounce) of beef marrow

15 grams (about 1/2 an ounce) of butter

2 eggs yolks

salt to taste

a dash of nutmeg

Pound the fillet in a mortar and pass it through a sieve. Chop the marrow finely and mix it with the butter, using the blade of a knife. Add this to the ground, meat. Then, add the rest of the ingredients making a loaf firm enough to pass through the same tool described in the previous recipe.

Boil it in broth for ten minutes. It serves six people.

You may replace the beef fillet with chicken or turkey breast, boiled or raw.

Take the stuffing for cappelletti in recipe 7, but instead of enclosing it in a pasta sheet, drop it by small spoonfuls into boiling broth. As soon as it firms up, pour the soup in a tureen and send it to the table.

1 glass of milk

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of semolina

20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of grated Parmesan cheese

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

a walnut-size dollop of butter

salt to taste

flour as needed

a dash of nutmeg

Heat the milk with the butter, and when it begins to boil, add the semolina little by little. Sprinkle with salt; when it is cooked and still hot, though no longer boiling, add the eggs, along with the Parmesan
and nutmeg, and mix well. Let it cool and spread it out onto a floured pastry board. Roll it gently into a thin cylinder which you will cut into equal pieces to be made into little balls the size of hazelnuts. Throw them into broiling broth, and soon after pour them into the soup tureen, and send to the table. Normally, they will absorb about 25 to 30 grams (about 4/5 to 1 ounce) of flour; but this can be less or more, depending on how the mixture turns out.

These amounts serve five to six people.

These are the same fritters as in recipe 184, but without the mortadella; to make them, therefore, see that recipe. The quantities given there should suffice for eight to ten people, because the fritters swell in the broth, even if you make them as small as hazelnuts. To throw them in the pot, scoop the mixture in a wooden spoon, and with the point of a kitchen knife dipped in simmering fat, shape it into round pieces. Fry them in pure lard or butter, place them in the soup tureen, and pour the hot broth over them. Send immediately to the table.

To make your life easier, if you are giving a dinner, you can make the mixture the day before and fry the fritters the next morning. In winter they will not suffer even if fried several days in advance.

200 grams (about 7 ounces) of ricotta cheese

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

salt to taste

lemon zest and a dash of nutmeg

Pass the ricotta through a sieve. Add the other ingredients—the eggs one at a time. Mix well and pour the mixture into a buttered mold, with buttered paper lining the bottom. Cook in
bain-marie
. When
cool, remove it from the mold, discard the paper, and cut it into cubes approximately one centimeter (about 2/5 of an inch) wide. Place them in a soup tureen, add boiling broth, and send to the table.

These amounts serve five to six people.

A half egg per person is more than enough for this soup, when it is made for a large company.

At the bottom of a pot, place as many heaping teaspoonfuls of flour as you have eggs. Add grated Parmesan cheese, a hint of nutmeg, a pinch of salt and finally the eggs. Blend together well, and pour the mixture into boiling broth through a strainer with a wide mesh, while stirring the broth at the same time. Let boil a while, and then send it to the table.

60 grams (about 2 ounces) of flour

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of butter

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of Parmesan cheese

4 deciliters (about 1 -2/3 cups) of milk

4 eggs

salt to taste

a dash of nutmeg, if desired

Melt the butter and as, soon as it is liquefied, pour in the flour. Stir, and when it begins to brown, add the milk a little at a time. Bring it to a boil, and after a while remove it from the fire. Season it and, when it has cooled, add the eggs. Cook it in
bain-marie
like the semolina described in recipe 15.

These amounts serve eight to ten people.

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of crustless fine bread

50 grams (about 1 -2/3 ounces) of untrimmed prosciutto

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of beef marrow

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of grated Parmesan cheese

flour as needed

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

a dash of nutmeg

Moisten the bread with hot broth and then squeeze out the broth using a cheesecloth. Finely chop the prosciutto. Pound the beef marrow with the flat part of the knife and then use the knife to knead it until it is reduced to a paste. Combine these three ingredients with the Parmesan, and then add the eggs.

Spread the mixture on a pastry board sprinkled with flour. Then cover with more flour—about 100 grams (about 1 cup) should do— so that you can shape the mixture into soft balls about the size of hazelnuts. Throw them into the boiling broth and, after letting them cook for ten minutes, send to the table.

These amounts serve ten to twelve people.

500 grams (about 1 pound) of potatoes

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of butter

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of grated Parmesan cheese

3 egg yolks

a dash of nutmeg

Cook the potatoes in water, or better yet, steam them. Then peel them, pass them hot through a sieve, and salt them. Then work in well all the other ingredients. Pour the mixture on a pastry board sprinkled with flour so that you can roll it into long, thin cylinders
without letting the flour get inside. Use these cylinders to form little balls the size of hazelnuts. Fry them in a generous amount of oil or lard. Place them in a soup tureen, pouring boiling broth over them, then send to the table.

These amounts serve eight to ten people.

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) rice

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of butter

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg yolk

a dash of nutmeg

salt to taste

Cook the rice in the milk until it is very thick (1/2 a liter or about 1/2 a quart of milk should do). Before removing it from the fire, add the butter and salt, and when it has stopped boiling, add the egg yolks, Parmesan cheese and nutmeg. To complete the preparation, follow the directions in the preceding recipe. These fritters are more flavorful than those made with potatoes.