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ITALIAN RECIPES

We're in the midst of soup season...

Tortellini in Broth

Ingredients:

1/4 pound turkey breast, finely sliced
1/4 pound veal, finely sliced
2 ounces prosciutto, finely sliced
2 ounces Mortadella di bologna, finely sliced
1 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoons of grated Parmigiano
3 tablespoons dry white wine
1 egg
A pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the turkey and the veal, and cook for about twenty minutes over a medium flame, sprinkling the meat with the wine. When the meat’s done, remove it from the pan, leaving the drippings (turn the flame off). Mince the meat in a food processor along with the Mortadella and the prosciutto.
Return the meat mixture to the pan, along with the cheese, egg, and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly and check seasoning.

For the pasta, follow the usual directions for home-made pasta, using 2 3/4 cups flour, 3 eggs, a pinch of salt, and, if need be, a spoonful of water, or buy several sheets of fresh store-made pasta. If you make the pasta at home, divide the dough into two pieces.
Roll one of the pieces out till it’s as thin as a dime and cut it into 1 1/2 inch squares with a serrated pasta wheel.

Put a 1/2 teaspoon of filling on each square and fold the squares diagonally to make triangles, tamping them well so the filling won’t come out while they’re cooking. Wrap each triangle around your little finger, giving it a half twist, and stick the opposing corners together to make the tortellini.

Set the finished tortellini on to rest on a lightly floured surface. When you’re done with the first sheet, roll out the second and continue until the stuffing is used up.
Bring 1 1/2 quarts of broth to a boil and gently cook the tortellini till they’re done (the pasta should be al dente, about 5 minutes), and serve, with grated cheese. Each diner should get between 12 and 18 tortellini depending upon how big you made them, and this recipe will feed four.
A wine? A light red, for example a Sangiovese di Romagna.

Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
2-3 leaves of sage
A egg yolk
Several slices of toasted day-old bread
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more at table
Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

Set a quart (1 liter) of water to boil with the garlic, sage, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes. When the time's up, whisk the egg yolk in a soup tureen, fish out and discard the leaves of sage and the garlic, and stir the soup into the pot.

Divvy the hot broth into bowls. Drizzle the slices of toasted bread with olive oil, lay them over the soup, and it's ready.
Serves 4.

Dalmatian Lenten Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:

Savoy cabbage (amounts given below)
Potatoes
An onion
Fish broth (from boiling a fish, or canned)
Garlic
A bay leaf
Bread
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Dice into half-inch (1-cm) cubes a head of Savoy cabbage, two peeled potatoes, and an onion. Simmer the vegetables until tender in the broth from boiling the fish (strain it first), adding a minced clove of garlic, a bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste to the pot. While the soup is cooking, toast several slices of bread. Line your soup bowls with them, ladle the soup over it, and serve.
Serves 4.

Passatelli in Broth

Ingredients:

3 cups (150 g) freshly grated Parmigiano
6 ounces (weight; 175 g -- this should be about 2 cups) bread crumbs
4 eggs
A pinch of nutmeg
An ounce (25 g) of beef morrow
2 quarts (2 L) beef broth

Preparation:

Melt the beef morrow over a low flame. In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, eggs, melted morrow, and nutmeg.

The resulting dough should be fairly firm; if it's not work in some more breadcrumbs. If it's ridged, soften it with a little white wine. Let the dough rest for a half hour, and in the meantime bring the broth to a boil.

Fill your passatelli iron or potato ricer with the dough and squeeze it over the simmering broth, allowing the passatelli to drop into it. As soon as the passatelli have risen to the surface turn off the flame and let the soup sit for a few minutes.
Transfer it to a tureen and serve it, with more grated cheese for those who want it.
Serves 6.

Baked timballo

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
A six-inch (15 cm) stick of celery, a small carrot, and three small onions, minced together
1/2 a small, crumbled hot pepper, or more, to taste
2 pounds (1 k) beet greens or spinach, stemmed, washed and coarsely chopped
1 pound (500 g) peeled, chopped ripe tomatoes (canned will do in a pinch)
Up to a pound (500 g) of vegetables such as peas, beans, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, or whatever else is in season
1 1/2 quarts (1.5 l) boiling water
5 eggs, beaten in a bowl
1/2 cup grated pecorino Toscano (pecorino Toscano is relatively mild - substitute Parmigiano, not pecorino romano)
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if the cheese is sharp)
Thinly sliced toasted Italian bread

Preparation:
Set a heavy bottomed pot on the fire. When it's hot, add the oil and the onion mixture; season the mixture with salt and the chili pepper.
When the onions have turned translucent, add the greens. Cover and cook over low heat till the greens have wilted, then add the tomatoes and the other vegetables, if you're including them. Simmer for about twenty minutes, then add the boiling water.

Check the seasoning and simmer for another twenty minutes.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and mix in the cheese, adding salt if necessary.
Line the bottoms of your soup bowls with thinly sliced toasted bread and spoon the beaten egg mixture over the bread. Bring the soup to the table, stir it well, and ladle it into the bowls, making sure that the hot soup flows over the egg, cooking it.

A wine? A light red, for example a Morellino di Scansano.
Serves 6.

Buon appetito!

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