Turkey broth makes a delicious soup and soup base, whether you’ve made it Nonna Erminia–style (substantial with mashed vegetables) or ultra-clear from careful straining. The important factor is concentrating the broth to the intensity of flavor you want. If you take some broth out of the freezer, for example, and find that it’s too light for soup, you can still reduce it to strengthen the flavor. And always taste and salt the broth as needed before serving it or adding additional ingredients. A bowl of plain turkey broth can sometimes be the right soup for the moment, delicious, nourishing, and comforting without any embellishment. But there are countless good things to cook, and float in the broth, too.

　　

Ingredients

　　

Step 1

Here are some of my family’s favorites:

　　

Step 2

Stockpot special broth: Heat freshly made broth to the simmer, adjust the seasonings, and drop in shredded turkey wing meat and carrots saved from the stockpot. Turn off the heat and serve immediately, dusted with freshly grated cheese. Cooked turkey or chicken meat should always be shredded and dropped into simmering broth after other ingredients are cooked, just to heat it up, before serving.

　　

Step 3

Lorenzo’s After-School Special: For that matter all the grandchildren love pastina in brodo, little star pasta cooked in the broth with a speck of the vegetables and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano.

　　

Step 4

The adults love rice in turkey broth with grated cheese. Cook the rice directly in the soup or precook the rice in salted water, drain, and combine just before serving.

　　

Step 5

Broth with fresh tagliolini: For 2 servings, add 1/2 cup Rich Man’s Golden Pasta tagliolini (see page 158) to 3 cups seasoned boiling broth and cook for about 2 minutes until the pasta is tender. Ladle into bowls and top with freshly grated cheese. (Make a note! The next time you make pasta, put a nidodi fidelini, a little nest of noodles [photo, page 167], in the freezer and save it for soup.)

　　

Step 6

Broth with passatelli: For 2 servings, add 1/2 cup cut passatelli (see page 84) to 3 cups seasoned boiling broth and cook for 4 or 5 minutes until the pasta is tender. Ladle into bowls and top with freshly grated cheese.

　　

Step 7

Broth with spinach: For every 3 cups broth, clean and trim 1 1/2 cups tender spinach leaves, cut in shreds (or left whole if small). Drop into the boiling, seasoned broth and cook for about 3 minutes. You may also drop the spinach into broth while tagliolini or passatelli are cooking.

　　

Step 8

Serve with Cheesy Crostini on the side, or float a crostini slice and top with a poached egg—Zuppa Pavese, as it is called. Pavia is a city in Lombardy.

　　

Step 9

Shred finely some leftover Herb Frittata or make one to order (see page 24).

　　

Step 10

Another good garnish would be any small piece of pasta dough you might have left, rolled very thin, and then sliced in strips from extra fine to fettucine. Or make quadrucci—little squares cut out from small pieces of dough or simply pieces of broken thumb-size dough.

　　

Vegetables Broth

Step 11

For a simple vegetable broth to use as a moistening agent in preparing other dishes, see page 288.

　　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.