Boiled dinner is quite popular in Northern Italy during the winter months. The meats are inexpensive, and the cooking process warms the kitchen. And you get to start your meal with a steaming bowl of soup. Broth is nice with simple pasta bits such as stelline (tiny stars). Or, you can do more: In Romagna the rich added tortellini to their broth, while the poor combined bread crumbs and eggs to make passatelli. And and even though now most everyone can afford tortellini, they still smile at passatelli. In Lombardia they do something similar, but use flour rather than breadcrumbs: Sbrofadej. To serve 4 you'll need:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (50 g) freshly grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano, plus a little more at table
- 3 eggs
- A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
- A pinch of salt
- 1 cup (100 g) unbleached flour
- 5 cups (1.25 liters) broth
- A potato ricer with 1/4 inch (5 mm) holes
Preparation:
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl, and then work the cheese, nutmeg, and salt into them. Next, work the flour into the mixture a bit at a time, and knead the resulting dough on your work surface for about 10 minutes. Wrap it in a cloth and let it rest for an hour.Bring the broth to a boil, and check seasoning. Put the dough in the potato ricer, and squeeze it through the holes and into the soup. When they rise to the surface, serve at once with more grated cheese for those who want it.
Note: If you don't have a potato ricer, you could also use a cookie press.
