Passatelli

Passatelli are extruded short pieces of "pasta" composed of bread crumbs and grated cheese with flavorings of lemon zest and grated nutmeg. They originated in the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche. Usually, they are cooked in beef or chicken broth, but they can also be eaten with a light sauce of some sort. In my opinion, these are no where near as good as the crepes in the soup, but are a good change.

We use a potato ricer with coarsest holes for the extrusion. Refer the Gear page for a recommendation.

3 large eggs (168 g)

1/4 (or slightly less) whole nutmeg, grated

zest from 1/2 large lemon or 3/4 medium-small lemon

60 g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

60 g grated Pecorino

140 g plain bread crumbs (the finely-grated ones we normally find in the store)

20 g corn starch

20 g all-purpose flour

1. Beat eggs by hand in a bowl.

2. Mix in the grated nutmeg and lemon zest.

3. Mix in the grated cheeses.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, starch, and flour.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix roughly within the bowl.

6. Finish kneading the dough on a counter. A plastic scraper can help with this while keeping your surface and hands clean.

7. Once the dough is somewhat compact, roll it into a log (see photo below).

8. Cover the dough tightly with a plastic wrap. You can spin by its ends to help make it tight.

9. Place in the refrigerator overnight so that the flavors mature.

10. Remove dough from refrigerator a good hour before you plan to extrude them. Otherwise, it will be very hard to squeeze it through (I know from experience).

11. Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces.

12. If it's sticking to the counter, you can add a little semola.

13. In the meantime, you can bring your chicken broth or beef broth to a slow simmer, assuming you will be cooking these in broth.

14. The first time you make them, you might be a little slow, so you might want to extrude them onto a tray with a little semola rather than directly into the broth.

15. Extrude about 2" of passatelli, then cut them. I've seen others make them longer. I've also seen some people shake them into the broth (or tray) rather than cut them, but I think it's easier to cut them.

16. If you extruded them onto a tray, pour them all into the broth so that they cook evenly.

17. Cook them in the broth on slow simmer until they rise to the top, which will be just a few minutes. You don't want to overcook them. They are already a little mushy anyway.

18. Dish out into bowels and add extra grated cheese of your preference.