Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Passatelli in Brodo
In the tiny village of Monteveglio, about 12 miles west of Bologna, Italy, we tasted delicious home-cooked passatelli in brodo. Paolo Parmeggiani, owner of the small restaurant/hotel Trattoria del Borgo demonstrated the dish—made with stale bread, cheese, eggs, broth and little else—which exemplifies cucina povera, or peasant cooking. Passatelli are cylindrical dumplings—like fat, short spaghetti—made by extruding dough through smallish holes; the dumplings are simply poached and served in chicken broth. We found that in lieu of a traditional passatelli maker, a potato ricer with 3/16-inch perforations works well for extruding the dough. Another alternative is to use a cooling rack with a ⅜-inch wire grid (instructions are included in the recipe). To make passatelli dough, Italian cooks use stale bread processed into breadcrumbs, but since we rarely have leftover bread, and in order to consistently produce a dough with the proper texture, we use Japanese-style panko breadcrumbs. We highly recommend using homemade chicken broth. If using purchased broth, consider upping its flavor by adding a chunk of Parmesan rind and/or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
4-6
Servings
Tip
Don’t use pre-grated Parmesan or domestic Parmesan-like cheese. With so few ingredients in the passatelli, true Parmigiano Reggiano is essential for flavor. Purchase it in a chunk, not pre-grated, as the cheese loses freshness once it’s grated. Plus, if you buy a chunk, you will have a piece of rind to simmer in the broth as a flavor booster.
1¼ hours
30 minutes active
Ingredients
-
4
large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks
-
3
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more to serve
Directions
-
01In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk the eggs and yolks, ¾ cup water and 1 tablespoon of the oil. In a food processor, process the Parmesan chunks until finely ground, about 20 seconds. Add the panko, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Process until the mixture is powdery, about 30 seconds. With the machine running, add the egg mixture, then process until smooth, about 1 minute. Let rest in the food processor for 5 minutes; the mixture will thicken as it stands.
Pardon the interruption
You need to be a Milk Street Digital Member to see the full recipe
JOIN MILK STREET DIGITAL & PRINT
12 WEEKS FOR JUST $1
and get access to all of our recipes and articles online, as well as in print.
GET DIGITAL & PRINTReviews
December 6, 2022
Making this again
This reminds me of my Granny’s Chicken and Sliders. Just needs a diced onion floating around in it. I used a spatzel maker and just put the dough on it and pushed it through with a spatula. I thought it was easy and didn’t take mush time. Best of all, most of the clean up is done while the drought is resting.
October 5, 2022
Yummy
Absolutely delicious. I have had this recipe saved for a while now and finally made it. I was a little intimidated that this would be a lot of work. However, it was SUPER easy. Also, as mentioned by another reviewer, definitely has a matzoh ball soup feel to it. Will definitely make it again.
I made this last month. It's in the pantheon. I would love to try this with matzoh meal for the coming holiday. Or matzohs processed into panko-like crumbs. Any suggestions or should I head out into this Sinai on my own? (I realize that real parmesan is probably not kosher, but do I sound like a I care about that?)
I am happily waiting for the passatelli to cool. My first batch didn't turn out as firm and puffy as the rest of the batches. The broth wasn't simmering enough. Instead of simmer, I'd say the broth is closer to a low boil. I'm adding some chicken to it since it's for lunch. Also tossing in a few peas and carrots just for giggles. I've tasted the passatelli. The consistency is like spaetzle. It almost looks like polenta in color. I used some parmsan reggiano and grana padano cheese. I thought it would taste too strong, but it does not. It's very good. It's a nice change from plain old pasta or rice in a soup.
Become A Subscriber To Rate and Review All Our Recipes.
Please Log in or join today for $1.
Heads up, you missed a TK :) "We came up with a simple Instant Pot version (p. TK)"