My first taste of this dish in Emilia Romagna awoke a hunger in me that I didn’t know I had. A new desire was immediately satisfied. Spoonfuls of broth, some gorgeous textured parmesan noodles, and repeat. Until the bowl is empty and the world feels sad. But, then you have more, and the cycle starts again. Passatelli in brodo is rich and light, sustaining and so satisfying. I adore chicken soup but this is so much more. This is chicken broth with noodles made from parmesan, nutmeg and breadcrumbs coasting inside. Why aren’t we all obsessed with this? Why isn’t it one of those dishes that every one talks about? Deeply flavoured and rich in umami, passatelli bring this chicken soup to life and soothe unlike any other. I first learned to make this in a hands on pasta class at La Piazzetta del Gusto in Nonantola, a gorgeous local restaurant in a pretty small town near Modena. The town square is full of elderly men chatting and passing the time jovially. Just beyond it is La Piazzetta del Gusto, a restaurant and a pasta shop. All the pasta is rolled by hand every day, and the restaurant itself specialises in passatelli. Passatelli? I was intrigued. We started with hand rolled tortelloni, then out came the breadcrumbs, parmesan, flour, eggs and nutmeg, which we kneaded lightly to makes passatelli dough. These are so easy. Once the dough is made, you push it through a passatelli press, old style or more commonly now a potato press with large holes, also used for passatelli, and snip the noodles over and into the water. So good. There are many ways that you can serve them, my favourite is with a classic chicken broth. A winter dish in Emilia Romagna, primarily, I think it suits our 4 seasons in a day summer quite well too. Passatelli recipe adapted from La Piazzetta del Gusto in Nonantola, Emilia Romagna Recipe: Passatelli in Brodo (AKA Parmesan Noodles in Wonderful Chicken Broth) Ingredients Passatelli (enough for two generous portions) 75g breadcrumbs 85g parmesan 2 eggs 25g pasta flour sea salt fresh grated nutmeg a passatelli press / potato press (I bought this passatelli press on Amazon) Chicken broth (more than you need – you can freeze leftovers!) a large pot – I have a home stock pot which I use lots and recommending investing in Raw chicken – approx 1.5kg carcasses, whole chicken (save the meat for another use if using this) or chicken wings (perfect as have lots of skin and fat so superb flavour) 6 carrots, coarsely chopped 4 sticks celery, coarsely chopped 3 onions, peeled & coarsely chopped 6 cloves garlic 2 bay leaves a teaspoon of peppercorns (I used white as that is what I had, black are good too) Method Make your chicken broth by putting all ingredients into a pot that will fit them, and topping up with water until everything is just covered. Cover with a lit and boil for at least 2 hours, the longer the better. Strain when done and season to taste with sea salt. Leave to the side. (If using a whole chicken, remove the meat from the carcass and save for another use). Make your passatelli by combining everything in a bowl and bringing together to a soft pliable dough. Heat enough stock for more than two bowls of soup and press the passatelli into it, cutting with a knife when a few inches long. The passatelli will rise to the top, and will be ready to eat a couple of minutes later. If you are making just for one, only press enough into the soup for you, and then press them onto a board, lightly flour, and store on a single layer to use within 3 days. The passatelli become flabby when left in the broth, so best to do it this way. Now eat. How good is that?! I visited Emilia Romagna as part of Blogville, sponsored by the Emilia Romagna Tourist Board in partnership with iambassador. I maintain full editorial control of the content published, as always. I wouldn’t waste your time, or my own!
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