Italian Food

  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Italian Food

Neapolitan Easter Soup Recipe - Minestra di Pasqua

By Kyle Phillips, About.com

This is the traditional beginning of the Neapolitan Easter meal. The recipe is after Cavalcanti, the great Neapolitan gastronome of the mid-1800s. To serve 6:

Prep Time: 1 hours

Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 pound (325 g) breast of veal
  • 1 pound (450 g) beef shank
  • 3/4 pound (325 g) pig's tails (substitute lean pork if you prefer)
  • 3/4 pound (325 g) Neapolitan sausages
  • 1/2 pound (205 g) Neapolitan salami
  • Fresh parsley and thyme
  • Marjoram
  • A little rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon tomato paste
  • 1 medium-sized onion
  • 1.5 quarts (1.5 liters) water
  • 5 pounds (2 1/4 k) cardoons stripped of their fibrous threads, OR:
  • 5 pounds (2 1/4 k) leafy vegetables (savoy cabbage, lettuce, beet greens etc.)
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • Salt (to be added at the end)
  • Pepper or hot pepper to taste

Preparation:

On Easter Eve make broth using the meat and the herbs; begin with cold water to cover and place the herbs in a gauze pouch so you can remove them easily when the broth is done (an hour or somewhat more simmering; taste the liquid and correct seasoning). Remove and discard the herbs. Remove the meat from the broth, pluck it from the bones, and set it in a bowl, with enough broth to cover.

The next day skim the fat from the bowl and the soup pot and stir in the wine. Scrub chop and boil the greens until almost done, drain them well, and finish cooking them in the broth with the meats, seasoning to taste. Serve with slices of toasted bread.

The wine? A light red, for example Vesuvio Rosso DOC.

Yield: 6 servings Neapolitan Easter Soup.
User Reviews Write Review

Explore Italian Food

About.com Special Features

Italian Food

  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Italian Food
  4. Soup, Glorious Soup!
  5. Clear Soups
  6. Neapolitan Easter Soup Recipe - Minestra di Pasqua - Neapolitan Easter Soup Recipe

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.