Stracciatella

Stracciatella soup on Flickr by beFOODled.

On Friday, S and I had lunch on a patio in Little Italy and I ordered stracciatella. It was so good and reminded me of the leek and egg drop soup that we made with Mark in Calgary.

Today, I made my own version for lunch.

Stracciatella is a Roman recipe and the word means "little rags," which refer to the shape the egg and cheese take when they are dropped into hot soup. The authentic Roman method adds semolina or flour to the egg and cheese mixture, and uses parsley. I did things a little differently and julienned some basil and spinach instead, and I made a soup base by sweating some leek and onion like we did with Mark.

Stracciatella
serves four to six

1 leek, white and light green part, finely sliced
1/2 an onion, finely diced
6 cups chicken broth
3 eggs
lots of grated fresh parmesan cheese (I used our microplane zester for an extra-fine grate)
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup baby spinach leaves, finely sliced
6 big basil leaves, finely sliced
salt and pepper

For the croûtes
2 baguette slices per person
some grated parmesan

Add the leek and onion to some hot oil in the bottom of a stock pot. Add some salt and sweat over low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add five cups of the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Wash, dry and julienne the spinach and basil leaves.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and parmesan together. Add the last cup of broth and the nutmeg. Stir and set aside until the leek and onion broth is boiling.

Make the croûtes. Cut the baguette into slices, two per person. Put on a baking sheet and grate some parmesan over top. Put under the broiler until golden and crispy.

Turn the leek and onion broth down to medium-low heat. Add the egg and cheese mixture in a thin stream, stirring the broth constantly with a whisk — watch for the little rags forming!

Add the spinach and basil and stir. Ladle into bowls, top with two croûtes. Garnish with more grated cheese and cracked black pepper.