Stracciatella alla Romano – egg soup with chicken quenelles

Famous food writer, Waverley Root, writing the Time Life series, ‘The cooking of Italy’ mentions this soup as one of the Roman’s favourite dishes.  He explains, ‘Stracciatella’ means little rags as the soup is made of the liquid batter of the eggs and grated Parmigiano Reggiano being poured into the hot stock.  The egg breaks up into little flakes and float in the broth.  Luscious and delicious.  Make the chicken stock first.  Then make and cook the quenelles, set aside until you are ready to finish the soup
Serves 6

When you have made and cooked the quenelles, and  are ready to finish and finish and cook the soup.

Bring the chicken stock to a gentle simmer in a saucepan. Whisk the eggs, cheese and parsley in a bowl and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside until required. Take the simmering broth off the heat and add the egg and cheese mixture which will cook almost instantly. Do not allow the broth to come back to the simmer or it will become cloudy and the eggs will overcook. Do not be tempted to stir, just leave the egg to set for a moment or two, then, very lightly stir with a fork so the egg separates into thick chunks or strands.  If you do this too soon, the strands will be small and will make the soup look grainy.
Gently stir in the extra knob of butter to give extra richness and serve immediately.

Egg soup with chicken quenelles – Stracciatella con gnocchettini di pollo

Serves 6 makes 72 quenelles

To make the dumplings: mix the chicken mince in a bowl with the stiffly beaten egg whites, Parmigiano Regianno,  parmesan powder and chives. Season with salt and pepper.
Using 2 teaspoons, shape the chicken mixture into small quenelles or dumplings, weighing about 20- 25 grams each.  Rest in the fridge.  When ready to cook, plunge them into the simmering chicken stock.  Cook for 8 minutes before scooping them out and setting them aside to add to back to the finished broth as made above.