Buon Appetito!

Daniele and Paola invited us over to their flat so they could teach us how to make homemade passatelli. This hearty soup is local to the Emilia-Romagna region and is a favorite of their two year old son, Marco.

Here is the recipe....
A large pot of broth cooked the day before: this broth was made from coarsely-chopped carrots, celery, onions, beef ribs with meat, and chopped pieces of chicken on the bone. Cool the broth in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat from the top. Throw the fat away...unless you have another good use in mind.
200 grams of Grated Hard Rolls: Daniele and Paola collect all their leftover rolls from the week and then they grate them with the small side of a cheese grater. The bread needs to be very hard to grate properly. After you grate it run the crumbs through a sifter.
200 grams of Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Zest from 1/4 of a small lemon
3-4 Eggs
1 Tbsp. of Flour

Combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, lemon zest and flour. Make a well and crack 3 or 4 eggs, depending on their size, in the middle slowly combining all ingredients. Knead the dough into a tube shape about three inches thick. Tear off a small amount of dough and squeeze it through a schiacciapatate, potato masher, until the pasta is about two to three inches long. Cut the pasta free with a knife. Continue this process until all the dough is passatelli-shaped.

Meanwhile bring the broth to a boil in a large pot (meat and veggies removed). Cook the passatelli in the broth until it begins to float (7-8 minutes). Serve immediately as the primi piatti or first course. The broth is rich and the passatelli are yummy. This is no big surprise since nearly one half of the pasta is cheese. The meat and veggies can then be eaten as the second course. Some folks like to eat their meat with mustard while others prefer moutarde which in Italy is a spicy and vinegary combination of syrup and pickled fruits.