stracciatella

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stracciatella, the soup

This pleasant-sounding word indicates different foods:

1. a soup (more on this below)
2. an ice cream composed of fiordilatte with dark chocolate bits (more on this another day)
3. a mixture of fresh cream and mozzarella frayed in thin threads used as stuffing for burrata and also sold by itself¹

First, a few words on the word stracciatella. The verb stracciare in Italian means to tear, to rip, to shred. The adjective stracciato means torn, in tatters. The soup is made with a mixture of eggs and cheese that, when poured into boiling broth and mixed quickly, cooks into shreds. Besides being delicious, this soup is quite nice to look at.

My mother would make it a few times a year. Not long ago, I asked her for the proportions she uses. This elicited the well-known answer: "poi ti regoli" meaning, you adjust quantities as appropriate. And that is basically what I did. I took out of the freezer a 1-quart container with chicken broth (brodo di pollo) I had previously made, and let it thaw. I beat two eggs (due uova) in a small bowl and added a pinch of salt and a few tablespoons (three or so) of Parmigiano, freshly grated, then a small quantity (un pochino) of lemon juice. The latter ingredient is recommended by my mother.

Ingredients:

• 1 quart chicken broth, possibly homemade
• 2 eggs
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

The making of stracciatella is fun. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add salt and cheese and mix in, then add the lemoun juice and give it a final mix. In the meantime, bring the broth to a boil, slowly pour the egg and cheese mixture in it, while stirring briskly with a wire whisk to cause the small shreds to form. Finally, let it cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, before serving it nice and hot.

Of course, I had to add a personal touch to this, so I added some Ethiopian barley (orzo) I had cooked for another dish and forgot to use (to no lasting detriment, fortunately).

Ethiopian barley is an heirloom, hulless variety of barley, in which the tough inedible outer hull adheres loosely to the kernel and falls off during the harvesting process. Hulless barley is whole-grain barley, since both the bran layer and the germ are conserved. I get this nutritional jewel as part of my share in the Shakefork Community Farm, our wonderful local grain CSA. I cook half a cup at a time and it is so tasty, my husband likes to eat it even plain, as a side dish. The cooked grains are pleasantly chewy and create a contrast in the light-textured stracciatella.

The second time I made it (shown in the photos), I used the same quantity of broth and the same number of eggs, but I added to the latter a few tablespoons of grated Montasio, the homemade cheese featured in this post. I followed my mother's direction and adjusted the quantity as I thought appropriate, without overdoing with the cheese.

Cinzia of Bread and Cherries recently posted her version of stracciatella which offers another interesting variation on the basic recipe. I found another recipe on the Accademia Italiana della Cucina site, which calls for one liter of broth (a bit more than a quart), three eggs, four soup spoons of grated Parmigiano and 2 tablespoons of semolina. Besides salt, a pinch of grated nutmeg (noce moscata) is added (Cinzia leaves it optional). The recipe is labeled as originating from Lazio, the region where Rome is located. It is also the region where my parents were born and grew up.

¹ This meaning was unknown to me until today (April 4, 2009): apologies to the early readers. It is not listed in my dictionary and I must admit I have never had a piece of burrata in my life not have I visited Bari and the surrounding area, where burrata is made.

A tureen of steaming stracciatella is what I am bringing to the Festa Italiana, an event organized by Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita and Marie of Proud Italian Cook. The running roundup is available here and [unfortunately no longer] here.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

stracciatella

or launch the stracciatella  audio file [mp3].

[jump to Comments]

stracciatella

stracciatella pronta per essere gustata

Questa minestra tradizionale laziale è preparata con un miscuglio di uova e formaggio che, quando è versato nel brodo bollente e mescolato velocemente, cuoce in forma di "stracci."

Mia madre la preparava alcune volte l'anno, in particolare il giorno di Pasqua. Quando le ho chiesto le dosi, mi ha dato la solita risposta "poi ti regoli." E questo ho fatto.

Ingredienti:

• 950 ml brodo di pollo (o misto pollo e carne), possibilmente fatto in casa
  
• 2 uova
  
• un pizzico di sale
  
• 3 cucchiai di Parmigiano-Reggiano macinato fresco
  
• 1/4 cucchiaino di succo di limone (indicazione di mia madre)
  

Preparare la stracciatella è divertente. In una ciotola, sbattere leggermente le uova, poi aggiungere sale e formaggio e mescolare. Infine, aggiungere il succo di limone e mescolare un'ultima volta. 

Nel frattempo, portare a bollore il brodo. Versare lentamente il miscuglio di uova e formaggio nel brodo e allo stesso tempo mescolare il brodo rapidamente con il frullino in modo che si formino gli stracci. Infine, lasciar cuocere per un paio di minuti, mescolando sempre. Servire subito.

Potete incontrare variazioni di questa minestra tradizionale, come l'aggiunta di semolino o quella di noce moscata. A me piace come la faceva mia madre.

Con questo post contribuisco all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. La tappa R come Roma è ospitato da Eleonora e Fronza di Garbugli0.

 

 

Comments

[Ivy]

I only knew of the ice cream stracciatella. The soup also sounds delicious.

[maryann]

Thanks so much for joining the festa, Simona! I would miss you if you weren't there :)
baci!
Maryann xox

[Marie]

Simona, I'm looking forward to seeing you at the festa, I'll have my spoon in hand ready to dig into your delicious stracciatella! Thanks so much for joining us!
xox, Marie

[astrofiammante]

Simona, ciao...una minestrina coccolosa,ma gli americani conoscono le minestrine? baciusssssssssss

[CurryLeaf]

WOW,never knew about this.I had heard/read about the icecream,but this recipe is new to me.Looking forward to authentic straciatella icecream as well

[Jeremy Parzen]

believe it or not, I had an excellent stracciatella (soup) at the Cafè Cipriani in Dallas the other day... would love to try yours. What's the relationship between stracciatella and minestra del paradiso?

[Paz]

I really like the sound of your recipe.

Paz

[Lori Lynn]

The soup looks great, excellent addition to the Festa! I have to keep an eye out for the Ethiopian barley, that sounds really good too.
LL

[Claudia]

I adore stracciatella (soup) and have been nervous about making it. Whenever I return to the east coast,I go to an Italian deli and feast. I shall have to try this.

[Simona Carini]

Hi Ivy. I know, the ice cream is better known than the soup. It's always been one of my favorite flavors. However, I've never tried to make it at home. I should correct that.

My pleasure, Maryann. It's a fun event.

Same for me, Marie. I hope you'll like the soup.

Ciao Astro. Adesso che ci penso, non credo che conoscano la nostra minestrina, quella con le stelline o i pepini. Dovro' parlarne presto. Bacioni.

Hi Sweatha. I definitely must try my hand at making stracciatella ice cream.

Ciao Jeremy. Stracciatella in Dallas: that's interesting. I have never had minestra del paradiso. I looked at Artusi's recipe and saw where the differences are, but instead of telling you here, why don't I try to make it and then write about it? Thanks for the question!

Ciao Paz. It's very comforting.

Ciao Lori Kynn. I'd be interested to know if you can find it in a store.

Ciao Claudia and welcome. I hope you try to make it: it is very nice, especially in cold weather.

[Cinzia]

Che bello l'articolo sulla stracciatella. Beh, io sono tornata da pochissimi giorni a San Francisco (finalmente!) e sto cercando di rimettere in ordine la mia vita qui (e anche la casa!!). I hope to go back with a better pass to my blog. And I want to try the tools you suggested to track other blogs I like. What comes next as produce of the month? Oh, and don't miss my next post on the mozzarella I brought from Italy with a funny video, in a couple days!

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Cinzia and welcome back. Next month is fennel. You are so brave in bringing back mozzarella!

[Ryan]

Hi have just found your blog and think it's great. I've just had Stracciatella for the first time yesterday and was hunting for a good recipe and came across your blog here and the cheese you mention above. I have been learning to make cheese at home here in Australia the past few years as an amateur home cheese maker for fun and pleasure. I'm an American living in Melbourne at the moment and love discovering new foods and the Montasio cheese sounds really interesting. Would there by any chance you might share the cheese making recipe for the Montasio above? I followed the link above but it lead to a fantastic picture of the cheese you made and I'd like to try my hand at it as I have access cow's milk here and can get two milking's, etc. from a local dairy which is the ways it's made in Italy, based on what I've read about the cheese from your links. Would greatly appreciate any recipe or thoughts you might have.

Thanks,

Ryan
[email protected]

[Simona Carini]

Dear Ryan, I am glad you found my blog and I hope you try to make stracciatella: it's really good.
I am always thrilled when I find other people who make cheese at home.
It sounds like you have access to a nice source of milk: I am a bit envious.

In terms of the recipe for Montasio, I wish I could say that I learned it from some artisan cheese maker in Italy, but alas that is not the case. My interest in making cheese is recent and it developed in California. Nobody I know makes cheese in Italy and my theory is that there is little incentive, since good cheese is easily available (same for good gelato). Of course, I may be totally wrong.
The recipe I use comes from the book "Home Cheese making" by Ricki Carroll, the first book on cheese making book I got. She has several recipes on her web site, but not that for Montasio. I don't put cheese-making recipes on my blog because I follow them pretty much to the letter: I am not good enough to create my own cheese, or at least not yet. Also, as you know, cheese making requires a set of tools and specific preparation, so the actual recipe is only one piece of the whole picture and a book gives you the necessary background information.

[Aiuolik]

R come 47 Ricette bellissime! La R di Roma è qui al gran completo: http://abcincucina.blogspot.com.es/2012/08/r-come-roma.html...

Grazie per la partecipazione e ora si continua il giro con la S di Siracusa!
Ciaoooo
Aiu'

PS come ho detto anche a Cindy, pensavo che la stracciatella se la fosse inventata mio padre :-))))

[Simona Carini]

Grazie Aioulik. Veramente anch'io non sapevo quanto fosse diffusa e quali fossero le sue radici fino a quando non ho deciso di scrivere il post. Sono un po' in affanno ma arrivero' anche in Sicilia :)