4 tablespoons sifted bread crumbs
3 eggs
4 tablespoons grated cheese
1 quart white soup stock or clear broth
Salt, pepper
Nutmeg

Optional
Half a cup of spinach
Parsley

"Beat the whites of the eggs, then beat in the yolks. Add the bread crumbs gradually, then the grated cheese, a pinch of salt and a grating of nutmeg. These ingredients should form a thin batter.

Have the broth boiling and drop the batter into it by spoonfuls. Let it boil three or four minutes and serve immediately. The batter will poach in soft, curdled lumps in the clear soup.

This soup is much used as a delicacy for invalids. In this case the cheese may be scanted or omitted entirely. By way of variety a tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley may be added to the batter, or a half a cup of spinach drained and rubbed through a sieve may be substituted for half of the bread crumbs.

When stock or broth is not available, it may be made from bouillon cubes and a lump of butter dissolved in boiling water and seasoned with celery salt, onion salt and pepper."

This recipe was taken from "Practical Italian Recipes, sold for the Benefit of Italian War Orphans," by Julia Lovejoy Cuniberti. It was published in Washington, D.C. in 1918. For the entire copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website.... P.S. This recipe is almost identical to the traditional "Stracciatella" soup. Photo: Mary Melfi.

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