Passatelli are a traditional soup garnish that resemble fat round noodles (see the photo, above) but they’re made with dried bread crumbs rather than flour. This gives them lots of flavor and a pleasant crumbly texture; in fact, they may remind you of matzoh balls, the Jewish soup dumplings that are also made from dried crumbs and eggs. Passatelli are a snap to make—well ahead if you want—and they cook in less than 5 minutes, right in the soup pot, just before you serve the soup. They are a splendid addition to plain broths, either All-Purpose Turkey Broth (see page 80) or chicken poaching broth (see page 328), and they’d be a nice addition to Savory Potato Broth as well (see page 63). For this small amount of passatelli, I suggest using the simple method of rolling and cutting in the recipe. The shape is not traditional but the taste and texture are exactly as they should be. It doesn’t seem like a lot but the passatelli swell up nicely in the soup. If you want a larger quantity, just multiply the formula here.

　　

Ingredients

for passatelli for 4 servings of soup

　　1 large egg

　　1 cup fine dried bread crumbs

　　1/8 teaspoon salt (2 or 3 good pinches)

　　1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano

　　

Step 1

To mix, beat the egg lightly, then stir in the bread crumbs, salt, and cheese. Blend thoroughly to form a dense and somewhat sticky paste (see illustrations). Cover the dough and refrigerate now if you want, for up to 2 days.

　　

Step 2

To make the passatelli, flatten the dough on a floured board and roll into a rough rectangular shape, 1/4 inch thick or a bit less, if it will stretch without breaking. Cut the dough lengthwise every 1/4 inch into long sticks; cut these into 3-inch pieces (on the bias for a decorative touch). Toss lightly in flour, then lay out on a tray or baking sheet, covered with a towel, until you’re ready to cook them. They can be frozen at this point and dropped into the boiling soup to cook frozen.

　　

Step 3

Cook about 1/2 cup of cut pieces per serving. Bring seasoned broth to an active boil, drop in the passatelli, and boil for 4 to 5 minutes (or a bit longer if they are thick), until they are soft but still hold their shape.

　　

Shaping Round Passatelli

Step 4

In Italy, traditional round strands of passatelli are shaped with a special tool somewhat like a potato masher, with a heavy-duty perforated sheet that is pressed into the dough. With enough pressure, the dough is forced up through the holes, forming spaghetti-like pieces. I have one of these, a handheld cylindrical extruder, at home and it works well most of the time. But you have to be careful about the density of the dough; it must be neither too hard nor too soft.

　　

Step 5

A good alternative—and one that I hope many of you can try—is to use an electric meat grinder or the meat grinder attachment for a food processor. You set it up as usual with a disk of medium or large holes, but without the rotary cutting blade. The machine will now act as an extruder rather than a grinder: you drop the dough into the hopper and the auger will do the work, pushing it out the holes in a continuous stream of perfect passatelli. Let them fall onto a tray or plate and break naturally into pieces (or cut them shorter). Cook them as in the recipe below.

　　From Lidia's Family table by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright (c) 2004 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Published by Knopf.Lidia Bastianich hosts the hugely popular PBS show, "Lidia's Italian-American kitchen" and owns restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Also the author of Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, she lives in Douglaston, New York. Jay Jacob's journalism has appeared in many national magazines.From the Trade Paperback edition.