Just Like Nonni Made It: Stracciatella Soup

RECIPES

Stracciatella Soup

COOKING TIME: 10 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 10 MINUTES

SERVES: 4 SERVINGS

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There’s something comforting about a bowl of stracciatella soup—especially when it tastes like the one my Nonni used to make.

I remember my Nonni making this soup all the time for me, and when I was feeling under the weather recently, I wanted a bowl of something warm and comforting. I realized I already had everything I needed in my pantry: broth, an egg, pastina, and Parmesan. No trip to the grocery store required.

I started looking at recipes online, and I noticed that many of them have you beat the Parmesan into the egg before adding it to the broth. I tried it that way, and while the soup was tasty, the egg became more curdled than I remembered my Nonni’s being.

So I asked my mom.

From memory, she told me that Nonni cooked the pastina right in the broth and then added the beaten egg on its own. The egg cooks into soft, delicate ribbons, almost like an Italian version of Chinese egg drop soup. The Parmesan is added at the end.

I made it that way, and it was exactly what I remembered. The egg had that soft, silky texture, the Parmesan added just the right amount of flavor, and the whole bowl tasted like the soup Nonni used to serve.

Sometimes recreating a family recipe means finding the exact recipe. And sometimes it means calling your mom and asking, “How did Nonni make it?”

This is a simple soup made with ingredients you may already have in your pantry, but for me, it’s much more than that. It’s a little taste of my Nonni’s kitchen.

I hope you feel inspired to make it when you’re feeling under the weather, or simply when you want a bowl of something warm, comforting, and nostalgic—a little taste of home and a memory of someone you love.

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Ingredients:

6 cups broth

¼ cup pastina (Acini di Pepe or similar)

4 large eggs

¼ tsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Boil the broth.

Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.

2. Cook the pastina.
Once the broth is boiling, add the pastina. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.

3. Beat the egg.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, beat the egg with black pepper.

4. Add the egg.
Once the pastina is cooked, slowly pour the beaten egg into the broth while continuously stirring in a circular motion with a fork. As the egg cooks, it will form long, delicate ribbons. Continue stirring for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

5. Add the Parmesan.
Let the soup cool for 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle in the Parmesan while stirring continuously for about 1 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt into the broth.

Serve immediately.

NOTES:

Adding the egg – The key to those soft, long egg ribbons is to pour the egg in slowly while continuously stirring the broth. If you add the egg all at once or stop stirring, it can clump together and become more like scrambled eggs. You want delicate ribbons, not fluffy clumps.

Adding the Parmesan - Don’t add the Parmesan while the broth is still on the heat. The cheese can clump together and sink to the bottom of the pan, resulting in a stringy mess. Let the soup cool for a minute or two, then add the Parmesan while stirring. It will melt into the broth and add that salty, savory flavor.

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